


The Echos of Our Hearts

by Solstice_Sunrise, SolsticeSunrise (Solstice_Sunrise)



Category: South Park
Genre: Big twist, F/F, F/M, First Person, Harems, Lowkey you're stupid, M/M, Multi, Multiple Endings, Multiple Pairings, New in Town, Original Character(s), Theater Kid, Works at Raisins, accidentally become a super villain, bad dad, because drama, but also smart, but also stupid, pansexual main character, superhero au, there is a whole subplot about being a sexy evil villain, you're a girl, you're literally just here for drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 30
Words: 122,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23134543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solstice_Sunrise/pseuds/Solstice_Sunrise, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solstice_Sunrise/pseuds/SolsticeSunrise
Summary: You're a stupid highschool girl by day, a stupid super villain at night. Though you are very good at hiding it. You have a few more identities than most, but your best friends are always there to help you along the way. And also fight you.(Originally posted on Quotev)
Relationships: All/Reader, Bebe Stevens/Reader, Clyde Donovan/Reader, Craig Tucker/Reader, Eric Cartman/Reader, Goth kids/Reader, Jimmy Valmer/Reader, Kenny McCormick/Reader, Kyle Broflovski/Reader, Leopold "Butters" Stotch/Reader, Mike "Vampir" Makowski/Reader, Mysterion (South Park)/Reader, Stan Marsh/Reader, Token Black/Reader, Tweek Tweak/Reader, Wendy Testaburger/Reader
Comments: 39
Kudos: 183





	1. The Operaette (Op a ret)

Your P.O.V

I slowly took another step up, trying to figure out what to do. The warehouses massive door let in an awful draft, it was so cold inside I'm sure if I spent the night I'd never wake up. Though my blood was pumping too hard to focus on the stupidly cold temperature around me.

I took another silent step up the rusty metal stairs, my eyes glued to the group of boys on the other side of the warehouse. Since I was on the far end of the building away from the door I could see them, but I was fairly sure they couldn't see me. 

I had to get out. They were here for someone else, probably some random villain they had challenged to a fight. I didn't know for sure, I just wanted to get out without being seen. 

I had come here because of my lovely boss. She was so dedicated to my performance as a waitress, she had leaned over her desk to me and whispered into my ear,

“If you want it, go find it.”

Thankfully, the other girls were sympathetic. Like they said, my paycheck was tucked away in the U-Store-It main warehouse. 

I guess it could have been worse. The warehouse was close enough to my new home, probably because South Park tended to place run-down things in the same place.

The pack of caped teenagers were drawing closer. I shook away my thoughts, knowing that I had to climb the stairs I was currently crouching over. From what I could tell from the light, there was a door that lead somewhere else. 

Where? I don’t know. But it was my only option. And if I cornered myself, it might become a funny story for my future 

Something clicked in my head. An idea. An idea, mind you, that definitely, under no circumstances, would ever work. I glanced at the group of masked boys, they had gotten closer to the stairs. I almost had a panic attack when one of them scanned where I was hunched over. They must have missed me though, since nothing happened.

‘It’s now or never…’ I thought. I have school tomorrow. I needed to try something. 

I sighed, then cleared my throat, alerting them to my presence, 

And hummed. 

It was the first song that came to mind. You are my Sunshine. It was a bittersweet song, so I thought it might be a little creepy. I apparently was right, as a familiar voice half whispered a "What the fuck...?"

I almost giggled, from what my brother ranted, The Coon never was one to keep things fantastical. I inched up another step, the door to the roof looked like it was miles away. But my plan seemed to be working.

Because of how echoey the almost empty warehouse was, my voice was coming from everywhere. And in the near unseeable darkness, I could have been anywhere.

As I got to the lyrics of the song, I noticed they all had frozen in a clump. As I began to sing, I swear I heard a few gasps.

“The other night dear…”

“As I lay sleeping.”

“I dreamed I held you in my arms.”

“When I awoke, dear,”

“I was mistaken…”

“So I hung my head and I cried.”

I tried to climb two stairs at once, and a made little clamoring noise. To cover it up I quickly began the chorus, making it extra dramatic so they wouldn't notice. Though a few heads did turn my direction. 

“You are my sunshine…”

“My only sunshine…”

“You make me happy,”

“When skies are grey…”

They were walking towards me now, but slowly. They probably weren't sure where I was for sure, but I knew it was just a matter of time before they figured it out. I held the last note for a long time to cover up my climb of two more steps.

“You’ll never know dear,”

I was right at the door, and I could feel the cold seeping through it onto my bare hands. I almost wanted to stay behind in the slightly warmer warehouse, but I really had no option. 

Right as the last few lines began, I quickly opened the door and slipped out onto the roof, a little sad I couldn't finish the song, even in my current situation.

“How much I love you…”

In the brief moment when the moonlight bouncing off the snow let me see inside much more clearly, I saw them in their superhero costumes, mouths agape, staring at where I was standing. 

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

I didn't see much of anything after that, because apparently a "few flakes" of snowfall actually meant a blizzard. 

"In New York it’s spring." I whispered bitterly to myself. The weather man had deceived me, or I had no idea what living in the mountain town was like yet. Either way, now I was gonna have to run away from boys twice my size in a foot of snow and almost a fog of snowflakes.

Over my pettiness, I heard them loudly stomping up the metal stairs, and decided I might as well try and sprint.

I ran as well as I could away from the door, but then I realized something. I had no idea how to get down. I thought I knew where the fire escape was, but in the thick snowfall and darkness of the night, it was pretty hard to figure out where I even was.

I mentally cursed myself again for staying too long in the warehouse, and dove behind some random machine near me, it was covered in ice and looked like it didn't even work anymore, so I figured it was the best hiding place i'd get on a roof. 

I heard the door burst open and several of the heroes voices rang out into the silent night.

"Where are you?!" By the high pitched voice alone, I'm pretty sure that's Mosquito. 

"Who are you bitch?!" That one's also pretty obvious, only The coon would be this rude so loud.

"Come out." 

'Wait... who was that?' I thought. 'Super Craig? His voice is kinda deep..... No, his voice is flat and bored. This guys voice was full of anger or something. Kinda hot actually..... even if he is hunting me down while I slowly freeze to death."

"...Mysterion?" I wondered aloud. My voice was barely a mumble.

"Yeah?"

I screeched a little and pulled down my beanie over my face, concealing my identity even if it was hard to breath. Thankfully it was knitted, so I could at least see through it a little. 

"... Nothing?" Goddamn it why me.

There was a tense silence, and I could hear the other Coon and friends calling out for me around the roof.Thankfully his gruff voice interrupted the awkwardness. "Why are you up here?" 

"Because I was running away from you guys." I could almost feel him roll his eyes.

"Ugh, I mean why were you in there?"

"Oof. Don't think I can answer that for you buddy." 

"Why?"

"I just really, really don't want to."

He scoffed. "Listen kid, I either get an answer out of you and let you go, or my friends and I beat you up for interfering with our mission.

Now it was my turn to scoff. 'Buddy, why would I tell you about my jerk of a boss? Even if you are a hero.' I ignored my thoughts. "I'm like, the same age as you."

"Was that an answer? I can't hear you through your bizarre disguise."

Disguise? It's just a hat. Whatever, I might as well tell him the truth since he doesn't know who I am. Or at least... some of the truth. I sighed. "Fine."

I took a deep breath. "So my mom needs some extra money since my dad stopped paying child support, so I tried getting jobs places, but no one was willing to hire me except, uh, ....nobody. Nobody was willing to hire me."

I had a feeling I should hurry up. 

"I, uh, came in here to find pieces of scrap metal to sell, so I can help out my mom. But since it's technically stealing I didn't wanna get caught."

There was again a weird moment of silence. I felt guilty, it wasn't a whole lie, but I still completely took out some parts.

'Technically, I did tell him why I was here for so long. I was really trying to find stuff to sell when they all interrupted me.' I argued with myself.

I did go in and pick up some metal pieces to sell, so I guess I do have some proof. I emptied out my coat pockets, letting the masked hero see my pitiful attempt at money making.

He was quiet for a moment, and I was sure I had been caught. Then he did something unexpected. 

He rummaged around under his cape for something, and pulled out a torn and crumpled up 10 dollar bill. He extended his arm out to me to take it. 

"Here. Sounds like you need it more than I do." I froze. He was being so nice, but I didn't want to take it. We really did need it, sure, but I couldn't just take a super hero's money, especially since, according to my brother, he was a literal child. 

Before I could resist though, I heard someone yell.

"Mysterion, what are you doing?!" I whipped my head around and met face to beanie with Tupperware. He was pretty easy to distinguish from the rest, mostly because although he did wear something over his head to disguise himself, it was, you know, Tupperware. And completely clear.

Because of his outcry, soon the rest of the Coon and friends were surrounding me and Mysterion. 

He had yet to drop his hand, and was still facing towards me. I guess he still wanted me to take it. 

I glanced around, everyone seemed to realize what was going on, besides the Coon, he was still catching his breath.

"Um..." Wonder Tweek said, unsure of what to do. 

"Why,... ugh, why....Is that chick wearing a hat on her face?" The coon finally seemed to pull himself together.

"Yeah what is she, some lame super villain?" Human kite agreed.

"One, it’s called fashion, and two, I’m not a villain!" 

"Of course you are, you're mugging me!" Mysterion retorted angrily.

"Dude, if she's mugging you just stop her." One of the boys yelled at him.

Mysterion violently jerked back, but his arm stayed in the same position. Like something was holding it there. 

The coon gasped dramatically. "That chick is holding Mysterion Hostage with her Singing powers!"

Singing powers. As fun as that sounded, “Dude." Said, with as much self confidence as someone wearing a beanie as a face-mask. “That was just a distraction. I was trying to avoid you.”

"Don't deny it! Why else would you be avoiding us if you didn’t have some terrible curse?" The coon spoke with such self assurance, I figured I should just play along and hopefully get home soon.

Singing powers. Yeah, I could definitely work with that. 

I sighed dramatically, and rose my arms in defeat. "I admit it! I needed money for my.... Lair, and I saw that good old Mysterion here had some in his pocket."

I glanced at Mysterion to make sure he was okay with this, and he kept his same straight face so I assumed it's all good.

The coon burst out laughing. "Well that's a huge mistake! Ke- Uh, Mysterion is super poor. Of all people, you decided to mug him!" He continued to laugh at my apparent mistake, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Mysterion grimace through his mask.

"Shut it Fatass." Human Kite defended. You couldn't help but crack a smile, even though none of the boys could see it. 

Mosquito joined in. "I think maybe you should get a better costume first. I'm pretty sure just a hat on your face isn't a very effective way to hide your identity."

"You're correct in what you say, I just have to point out that you're a Mosquito." 

Mosquito flushed a little bit. "It's a better power than you have! What are you, just some opera singer?"

"What are you, some random bug?"

"I kill people!"

"I could literally end you with some Febreeze, needle-nose."

The coon groaned. "Enough of this shit. You're obviously not a full nemesis yet, go flesh out your character a little bit more and then we'll talk." 

"Well hang on, you don't even know who I am!"

"ugh whiny bitch,... fine what's your name?"

"....."

"What?" The coon looked impatient.

"I just realized I don't have a name." I said, flushing a tiny bit under my "Disguise"

A few face palmed. And honestly I couldn't blame them. HumanKite flew in to save the day. 

"Well, your powers are connected to your singing, right?"

"Yeah, sure." I was still pretty certain I don't have powers, Mysterion was just being nice to me. 

"Well your name should reflect that, right? How about, uh, The singer?" He said, smiling lightly. I didn't know what to say. Or rather, I did, I just wanted to be nice. It was not a perfect name, but I had no better ideas.

"Dude that's fucking lame." The coon said.

I patted Human Kite on the shoulder. "Yeah, it's not exactly what I was looking for." 

They all thought a minute. "Uh... Well, how about... Flaming Notes?" Tupperware chimed in. "Like music notes, but cooler."

"That's better, but I don't think I can wield fire." I said, giggling slightly.

Suddenly, everybody was pitching ideas for my character name. Most of them had something to do with music, but a few were just completely random, things like "Flower girl" "Clockwork" and "FeatherFly". It was weird. But most of them were serious attempts at names, and I really appreciated how into it they were, especially since I was just some weird girl on a goddamn roof.

Finally, I found one. The entire time, The coon had been the one throwing out the joke names, so I wasn't really paying too much attention to him.

"Uh, how about "The Operaette"." He gave no more context, but the way it sounded just felt so...right. Like an old nursery rhyme you don't remember the words to, but still know the rhythm.

"Ooh.... that actually sounds nice, what does it mean?" Everyone went silent and glanced around at one another, probably surprised. 

The coon looked just as shocked at my response as the others, I don't think he was even taking himself seriously when he said it.

He cleared his throat, trying to pretend he was 100% ready with an answer. "Well, Obviously, It means a chick opera singer, duh."

"...Coon, I don't think that-" Mysterian started.

"It's perfect!"

"It is?" Everyone said at once.

"Yeah! It fits my power, and I've never heard of anyone else named that!" I squealed. “Thank you so much!” 

The coon puffed up his chest as I accidentally inflated his ego. "Heh, yeah of course my name was the best choice, that's why i'm the leader."

Mysterion rolled his eyes. "You got lucky fatass." 

He looked back at me, and I realized he was still holding out the ten dollars. I still didn't want to take it, maybe I could get away without having to.

"The Operaette does sound pretty cool." He said.

I smiled. I had told Kiyo that Human Kite was my favorite too, since siblings always stick together. But maybe Human Kite came in close second.

"Thanks."

"Uh, you’re WELCOME." The coon yelled.

I felt like no one had anything else to say, so to avoid the awkwardness that was to come, I decided to make my grand exit. 

"Well, the coon's right. I should probably head home and figure out my backstory and stuff."

"And get a new costume." Mosquito said.

"Yeah, yeah, costume too."

"Y-y-you c-can leave anytime you want, just please stop m-mugging Mysterion." FastPast told me.

'I would love to stop mugging him, but he seems to be holding himself hostage.' I thought, getting a bit annoyed.

I sang a random note, and raised my hand towards him, as though commanding him to put his arm down. Confusion flashed on Mysterions face, but he seemed to realize what I wanted from him and dropped his arm, if a bit slowly. 

I silently thanked him for making this easier, and looked around at the rest of his team mates. They all seemed satisfied by this turn of events. The coon spoke.

"Good. Now leave and don't come back until you're an actual marketable super villain!" He pointed to me and commanded

I jokingly saluted him, earning a smile from a few of the boys. "You've got it!"

I began walking in a random direction, hopefully the cloud of snowflakes surrounding us made it look like I actually knew how to get of this fucking roof. I was happy to be finally going home, but my exit didn't feel powerful enough. 

At the last second I spun around. "Bye Coon and friends!~" But they all were gone. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What the fuck......?" I whispered. Looks like these guys really are super. I turned around again, the silence stinging almost as much as the cold.

Jesus Christ I need a hot shower.

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Timeskip!  
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I finally got home, and as expected mom was worried sick. I was two hours late after all. After convincing her I wasn't selling my body for money or doing drugs, she let me up to room to get ready for bed. "You do have school tomorrow after all."

I took a shower with my new shampoos and conditioners, and I turned the water up as far as I could. While I was scrubbing myself I got thinking.

'Man, today was not normal. I’m a super villain before I’m a student.'

I started to wash my face. 'Well, on the bright side, I actually got to meet Coon and friends! Even if they technically didn't really meet me.'

I smiled to myself. 'Man, Kiyo is gonna be so excited when I tell him. Maybe I should get him an autograph first though.' 

My little brother Kiyo always wanted to meet all the superheroes he heard about on T.V., so when he heard that our new town had its own crime fighters, he practically started hunting them down. He didn't get very far, considering he's only 4, but he's still trying.

I got out and toweled off, then put on my pajamas. I yelled out to mom that I loved her, and climbed into bed.

I slowly started to drift off, but before I fell into dreamland, I had one last thought. 

'Please let tomorrow be a good day. For all of us.'


	2. Family life First day Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go to school, but not after a few tender moments with the fam.

Your P.O.V

I woke up feeling rested. 

"Hahaha that would be cool, wouldn't it?" I said to myself, rubbing my eyes that are somehow already red from tiredness. I got up to change, and realized something. I searched through my beat up dresser for something nice to wear, and I had quite a few things I loved, like my bright pink skirt (pic above).

Unfortunately, since I had to walk to school I couldn't wear it. It was way to cold, and even if I could handle it Mom still wouldn't let me go unless I was wearing more layers. I figured I could probably get away with wearing them if I also wore yoga pants and maybe sweater. 

I perked up a bit when I realized I actually did have a cute sweater, the only problem is it just wasn't mine. Mom had recently saved enough money to get herself a little blue sweater with an orange fish pattern, since she really liked the ocean. 

I felt a smile creep onto my face as I remembered how excited she was when she came home with it, when she slipped it on over her work apron and spun around to make sure I saw all of it, It was the most happy I had seen her in months. 

I put on all the clothes I needed and slipped out into the upstairs hallway. I walked over to moms room and gently knocked, making sure not to wake up Kiyo in the room just across from hers. A gentle "Come in" let me open the door.

Mom was sitting on her bed with the blinds closed and her little yellow lamp on. She was still in her work clothes, but her hair wasn't in her normal bun and she had taken off her makeup. I liked seeing mom so relaxed, usually when I saw her she was Frazzled from working and taking care of a fussy Kiyo. 

"Morning Mama." Everything was so peacefully quiet, and in this moment I felt extra close to her.

"Good morning sweetheart. What do you need?" She asked.

I closed the door behind me to keep the noise from reaching my sleeping brother. "I was wondering...Could I use one of your sweaters?" 

She grinned at me. "Didn't you just get some new clothes for Christmas a few months ago?"

"Yeah but that was back in New York, and everything I got then was spring clothes!" 

Mom sighed, "Oh yeah, everything was so cold,all the spring clothes were on sale." She gave me a knowing smile. "Even if all you got was spring stuff back then, i'm pretty sure you have a few sweaters in your dresser."

I felt my face flush. "Yeah I do, it's just....." I couldn't bring myself to say it.

She put her hand on my cheek. "Their aren't any that you like?" 

I lowered my head. "Well when you say it out loud it sounds bratty." To my surprise she kissed my forehead. 

"Oh sweetie, you're not a brat. You just want to look nice on your first day at a new school." She raised my head to look at her. "You're a very creative girl, of course you want to express yourself through your clothes."

I felt my throat tighten a little. "Thank you mama..." I whispered and pulled her into a tight hug. 

"I want you to be happy sweetheart. I can't make everything perfect for you or your brother, but I want to give you what I can." 

"I love you mama."

"I love you too. Now..." She let go of me and walked towards her closet. "Which sweater do you want?" 

"I was thinking maybe that cute fish one?" She playfully rolled her eyes at me.

"Of course you want my newest one." She giggled at me. I laughed along with her as she pulled it off it's hanger from the nearly empty closet. "Be very careful with it, I know how dirty your clothes can get when you're not careful." 

She handed it to me, and I slipped it on over my tank top. Mom looked amused.

"Those clothes don't match at all." I put an over dramatic look of shock on my face and gasped loudly.

"Mother! You literally just said I could express myself through my clothing and now your mocking me? Your CHILD?" She shushed me.

"Y/n it's literally 5:30 in the morning, keep it down." Despite her demand I saw she was still silently laughing at my antics. She got an 'Oh yeah' look on her face and checked her watch.

"Speaking of the time, you have to get to school by 6:00, so if you want breakfast you better get eating now."

I nodded and hurried out of her room and grabbed all of my school stuff from mine. I quietly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, and grabbed a box of cheerios and milk. I got it all ready and began eating my cereal in the dark living room to save power. The blinds were up in the living room, so I got to see the sun begin to rise and cover the shining stars. 

I put my dishes in the sink, put on my coat and headed back upstairs. 

I poked my head through her door. "Bye mom." 

"Bye honey, have a good day at school."

I quietly opened Kiyos door, and saw that he was already awake and playing with his trucks. I opened it all the way. "Kiyo you're supposed to be asleep. You have day care today."

He crashed a bus into his firetruck and then looked up at me. "You and mommy were laughing really loud, so I thought it was time to wake up."

I bent down to help him pick up his toys. "I'm sorry buddy, we don't mean to be so loud. I'm just excited for school."

"You're going to high school right sissy?" he asked, climbing back into his little bed.

"That's right, It's a lot bigger than your school." I started tucking him in.

"Mommy says you might get lost in there."

I chuckled, of course she was gossiping about me to my brother. "Well I might, I've only ever been there once."

Kiyo yawned. "Mrs.Green says that if I ever get lost, I should try and find my friends for help."

I kissed him on the forehead. "That's a good idea, I'll keep it in mind."

"Goodbye sissy."

"Bye-bye Kiyo, get some sleep."

I made my way downstairs and outside. The sun was still rising, and no one had shoveled their sidewalks yet after the snow last night. I decided to just walk on the side of the road since it was plowed and no one was really on it yet besides a few buses picking up other students.

I made my way to the school, my mind going back to last night. Coon and friends were known to be just average highschoolers, that's why people loved them so much. 

'I wonder if any of them go to South Park High?' It sure would be cool, but if I am really about to become a super villain, it probably be best not to spend six hours a day with them in plain sight. 

I sighed. 'Oh yeah, I gotta become a super villain.' I thought glumly. Sure it sounded fun, but I had enough stresses on my mind. Maybe I just needed to be in the mood for it, but right now being the bad guy felt like such a chore. 

'Well on the bright side, at least I don't have to do it right away.' I thought. 'Since none of them Know my true identity, I wont have to do anything crazy right now to prove i'm just as evil as I say I am.'

Well, technically I never said I was evil, Mysterion kinda just made me look that way. But what I thought still stands.

I approached the school, the flag was raised and flapping lightly in the wind. I took a deep breath and crossed onto the lawn, my thoughts shifting to what my new school life might be like. 

I stepped in front of the door, and grabbed the handle. 

"You can do this Y/n" I whispered to myself. Kiyos words flashed in my memory's. 

"If I ever get lost, I should try and find my friends for help." I told myself. 

I took another deep breath and rose my head to look straight forward. "I just have to find my friends." 

I pushed the double doors open, and all the chattering in the crowded hallway stopped. All eyes were on me as I stepped through and pulled my schedule out of my pocket. It had all my information on it, including my locker number. 122 to be exact. I just needed to find it.

I walked towards a row of small blue lockers stacked on top of each other, they were all in the 20's range so I knew I needed to go farther.

By now people had started talking again, but it was all quiet mumbling.

".....New girl...."

"Who's that?" 

"Is she new.....?"

I rolled my eyes at this, everybody was talking about me, but nobody was talking to me directly. I spun around to face them all, and the mumbling stopped as they all watched me. I smiled and waved.

"Hi! My name is Y/n, and I'm new to South Park. Now you all can stop being such weirdos and talking about me like i'm not here." 

A few people in the crowd laughed, but most just looked embarrassed. One boy shouted "Hi Y/n!" from somewhere I couldn't see. 

I turned back around, and kept walking down the hallway searching for my locker. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around again, a girl with long black hair and a pink beret was standing there looking at me, along with her were several other girls, one with long-ish red hair, one with thick curly blonde hair, one who had light brown hair and a cute hat with a flower on it, one with dark brown hair and orange glasses, and one who had black poofy hair in two puffs on her head. I noticed beneath their coats they were all wearing the same green and white sports uniforms.

"Yeah, what's up?" I casually asked them.

"That was really cool what you did!" The one with red hair said happily.

"Oh, uh, thanks. I just don't like people talking behind my back." 

"Well it was still pretty brave of you I think, I could never just talk to everyone like that." The girl with the orange glasses said, I noticed she was kinda quiet. 

"Heh thanks. I'm Y/n as you know, what's your guy's names?"

"Well, I'm Wendy Testaburger, I'm the captain of the cheerleaders and class president." The girl with the beret explained.

The rest of the girls introduced themselves, there was Bebe, Red, Heidi, Lisa, and Nichole. Apparently they all were cheerleaders at South Park high, except for Nichole who was also on the girls basketball team.

"That's pretty cool! Why are you all talking to me?" 

Wendy pointed to my schedule. "It's my job as class president to show new kids around, and I saw you needed help finding you're locker."

I beamed. "Thank you for noticing!" I glanced around at the rest of the girls. "But why are you all helping me out?"

"Because we're all besties!" Bebe sang.

I shrugged. "Well, can't argue with that." 

"Well lets go! Where's your locker?" Wendy asked, looking over scheduled. When she saw my locker number she winced.

"Oh no Y/n! You're locker's next to Cartmans!" Wendy shrieked. This seemed to upset the rest of the girls, as they all began patting me on the back.

"Y/n that's too bad." Said Nichole sadly.

"Yeah Y/n, I feel super bad for you." said Heidi.

"Wait guys, who's this Cartman dude?" 

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Only the most annoying and rude boy in South Park!" 

"Yeah he's a total ass-wipe!" Bebe agreed. 

We all stared walking down the hallway, Wendy leading the way towards my locker. "Well he can't be all that bad."

"Oh trust me Y/n, he's worse than bad!" Heidi said, flipping her hair. "Me and him used to date in elementary school, he was super abusive!" 

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Oh you poor baby! He must really be awful then." I tried to be comforting. Heidi didn't seem to care though. She shrugged.

"It's fine, it happened a while ago, I just wanna make sure no one else goes through what he put me through." 

We all reached my locker, Wendy was still reading over my schedule. "Hey you have science with all of us! And homeroom with me!" The girls all cheered, I smiled "Hey that's great, I already have people to talk to."

I opened my locker, and began unpacking all my stuff. The girls kept chattering about their plans for the day. Wendy looked at me intently.

"We should head to homeroom, I'll introduce you to Mrs.Grey." Wendy said, leading me further down the hallway and away from the other girls. She began explaining to me all that they had learned through out the year, random English subjects, science facts, and some Spanish vocabulary. She really cared about school. But I started zoning out after she started talking about the Spanish inquisition. 

"Y/n?" Wendy suddenly snapped my out of my thoughts.

"Oh! Uh, Yeah?" Wendy rolled her eyes again.

"I can tell you aren't listening, what are you thinking about?"

I smiled. "I'm just excited, I was so nervous this morning about school, I never even considered making friends would be this easy."

Wendy grinned back at me. "Well yeah, South Park isn't as bad as most people seem to think."

We both laughed a little. I faced Wendy again.

"I think today is gonna be a good day, ya think?" Wendy laughed again, and agreed.

I sighed. Today has started out great. 

I hope with all my heart it stays this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sweater is unimportant. But I like the sweater.


	3. First few periods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every so often, a little piece of heaven floats down to grace society. You however, like to think of yourself as a flaming ball of nerves.

"Everyone! I'd like to introduce Miss Y/n L/N, our newest student." My social studies teacher, Mrs.Grey said to the classroom full of a wide array of students. They all looked at me with mixed emotions, some smiled and looked very welcoming, but a few looked completely indifferent to having a new student with them in class.

Especially one boy sitting in the front row, he was wearing a dark blue hat with a yellow poof on top, and strands of straight black hair were spilling out from beneath it. He looked straight at me, but kept his face completely devoid of emotion. 

'Jesus that's almost a little creepy.' I thought to myself. I turned to look at Mrs.Grey as she placed a hand on my shoulder. 

"Well Y/n, would you like to say anything about yourself?" She asked me.

"Oh! Uh, yeah sure." I sputtered. I was so focused on the class I forgot that I was even new here. I stepped forward.

"Hey, I'm Y/n, as you know. I'm from New York city, and I grew up there. I really like to sing, and I even won a few awards for it in New York. Uh... I'm pansexual and If you're nice to me i'll probably make you cookies!" I shot a few finger guns at the class, earning a couple laughs. 

"That's very nice Y/n." Mrs.Grey turned to face the class. "Alright, does anyone have any questions for her?" One slightly bigger boy in a light blue hat with a light yellow pom-pom raised his arm. A look of shock briefly crossed Mrs.Greys face, like she was surprised he raised his hand.

"Yes Eric?" He made eye contact with me.

"Yeah, what the fuck is a 'Pansexual'?" I wasn't expecting his foul language, but no one else reacted, and instead just waited for my answer.

"Eric, what did we say about that kind of talk?" Mrs.Grey didn't even seem angry, just bored. She looked over to me. "Y/n, why don't you explain it to Eric?" She sat down at her desk but still kept watching me. 

'I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what it means either.' I thought.

"Well..." I started messing with my hair. "It basically means I like boys, girls, and pretty much any other gender. I just like everyone!" I smiled.

Mrs.Grey smiled back at me. "That's a very good way of putting it Y/n."

"Thank you ma'am, I've had to explain it so many times I've got it down to memory." I explained, getting a sympathetic chuckle from my teacher. 

I noticed some boys in the back were whispering to each other, they were all wearing hats, except one who was wearing a beat up looking Parka. I think I actually saw that boy this morning, he was one of the people who laughed when I introduced myself.

"Well if no one else has questions, you can sit in that desk right by-" 

"Wait a minute," Eric Interrupted. "If you're Pansexual, does that mean you fuck pans?" Everyone in class burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes, since I've heard that joke a thousand times before. But before I could tell him, the classroom door burst open, and some guy in sunglasses was standing there with his leg outstretched. It didn't take a genius to figure out he kicked down the door.

He strolled into the class, shaking a little. I was fully prepared to run from the room and call the police, but then Mrs.Grey spoke up. 

"Hello PC principle, what brings you here today?" Mrs.Grey said, not even breaking a sweat.

This man, apparently the principle of the school I now go to, started doing some breathing exercises, but he was still shaking a little out of anger.

"Yes Mrs.Grey I was just walking around the school, reading a magazine article on Filipino artists and all of their under appreciated work, and I overheard one of your students saying something highly offensive to a member of the LGBTQ+ community." 

This mans energy was off the charts, but in a really terrifying way. I cautiously walked in front of him, trying to get his attention, but not get in the way of his madness.

"Uh, excuse me sir?" I meekly raised a finger to get his attention. He looked over at me, an incomprehensible emotion on his face. I drew back out of the way in slight fear.

"Who are you? Are you the student I heard making discriminatory slurs against members of the gay community?" He got in my face as he asked, and I could see behind his sunglasses. 

"Oh no sir! I'm Pansexual myself." He got out of my face.

"Well then, I'm sorry for accusing you of such mean spirited insults." I laughed and waved it away. 

"Oh don't worry about it!" I started.

~~Kyles P.O.V.~~

I sitting in my homeroom with Cartman and Kenny, Mrs.Grey hadn't began teaching yet. She said there was a new student coming, and it would be rude to start a lesson if they had no idea what was going on. I agreed with the sentiment, but when there was nothing to do people started talking about the weirdest stuff.

"Okay, okay, so what if we all take shrooms, and then start spray painting the school. What would it look like?" Kenny asked, he somehow was thinking about weird drugs while looking at a nudie magazine. 

"Dude, I think you're already high." Cartman snorted. I nodded. Suddenly the classroom door opened, and in came a girl. She was wearing a cheap looking pink skirt and a big fluffy blue knitted sweater with orange fish all over it. Wendy was walking with her, I guess she helped her find the class. 

The more I looked at her, the weirder I felt. I guess it was all the bright colors she was wearing, they must have been doing something to my brain. She glanced at all of us, and Kenny elbowed me in the ribs. 

"She's hot!" He whispered. I punched him in the arm.

"No way dude. That chicks a four at most." Cartman said, loudly. The girl looked over at him with amused eyes, and stuck her tongue out at him. Cartman immediately shut up. Kenny began laughing hysterically.

"Dude she didn't even say anything and you already fucking lost!" I laughed along with him, and Cartman just began swearing under his breath. 

Mrs.Grey cleared her throat, and introduced her. Her name was Y/n, and like I had guessed she was the newest kid in our class.

"Hey, I'm Y/n as you know. I'm from New York city, and I grew up there. I really like to sing, and I even won a few awards for it in New York. Uh... I'm pansexual and if you're nice to me i'll probably make you cookies!" I laughed, but Cartman just whispered. 

"What the fucks a pansexual?" He leaned his head over towards me, the yellow poof on his hat getting in my face. 

"I don't know man, why don't you ask her?" I swatted his hat out of my eyes. He groaned.

"Alright, does anyone have any questions for her?" Mrs.Grey gestured to all of us. Much to everyones surprise, Cartman raised his hand. Mrs.Grey raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Yes Eric?" He shifted in his seat.

"Yeah, what the fuck is a 'Pansexual'?" The new girl winced, either at the fuck or the yelling. I'm gonna guess it was the fuck.

Mrs.Grey rubbed her eyes. "Eric, what did we say about that kind of talk?" She groaned. She glanced over at Y/n.

"Y/n, why don't you explain it to Eric?" She took a sip of her coffee, she obviously didn't know either. I'm pretty sure I had heard Wendy say it once, but I had no clue what it meant.

"Well..." She messing with her hair, trying to smooth out the ends. "It basically means I like boys, girls, and pretty much any other gender. I just like everyone!" She grinned at all of us, revealing slightly crooked teeth. They weren't terrible, and she obviously took care at them. It just added to her over all presence I think. 

"That's a very good way of putting it Y/n." Mrs.Grey said, and Y/n beamed. They began to chat about something, but I couldn't listen. Cartman was asking more questions.

"Wait, does that make her a lezbo?" He whispered, somehow very loudly. Kenny shrugged.

"Weren't you guys listening? She said she likes everyone. Not just girls or boys." Cartman seemed interested in this.

"Wait so does she fuck animals?" He asked.

"Ew dude you think?" Kenny looked up from his magazine. 

"No cause she said everyone, not everything." Cartman looked deep in thought. Then he yelled out, disturbing everyone around us.

"Wait a minute, if you're Pansexual, does that mean you fuck pans?" People around us giggled, and even the new girl laughed, but she rolled her eyes none the less.

Suddenly everything was silent. We all sensed it before we saw him. Everyone looked towards the door, and we all heard the familiar stomping of his boots. Kenny ducked beneath his desk, and a few girls plugged their ears with their fingers. 

There was a loud bang as PC principal kicked the door open so hard it was ripped from it's hinges. I glanced over at Cartman, he was looking nervous. It had happened years ago, but I think that time PC principal beat him up always really stuck with him.

He started doing some of his breathing exercises. I noticed Y/n stepped back a little when he walked in front of him. She looked a bit shocked, but she also looked kinda amazed. I suppose anyone would react like that, it's not like everyone grew up with someone like PC principal.

Mrs. Grey fiddled with her glasses. "Hello PC principle, what brings you here today?" 

"Yes Mrs.Grey I was just walking around the school, reading magazine article on Filipino artists and all of their under appreciated work, and I overheard one of your students saying something highly offensive to a member of the LGBTQ+ community." 

Y/n raised her eyebrows at this. She walked up besides him to get his attention. 

"Uh, excuse me sir?" PC principal flipped up his sunglasses to get a good look at her, and she took another step back. 

"Who are you? Are you the student I heard making discriminatory slurs against members of the gay community?" I noticed she was glancing at all of us every two seconds. 

She shrugged and smiled at him, apparently losing all of her nervousness. "Oh no sir! I'm Pansexual myself." 

PC principal got out of her face, and cleared his throat. "Well then, I'm sorry for accusing you of such mean spirited insults." He said a bit quieter. She laughed and waved her hand at him.

"Oh don't worry about it! It's not like Eric's the first person to make that joke." The classroom was dead silent again. But this time there was amusement in the air. Cartman let his mouth hang open from shock, and I saw rage creep into his eyes. 

He stood up onto his chair and angrily gestured to Y/n. "What the fuck?! I didn't do anything to you! Why'd you hafta throwing me under the bus like that?!" 

She seemed confused. "Huh? What did I do?" Before Cartman could answer, PC principal got up and stomped over to him, making him immediately sit back down in his chair. 

He started shaking again, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Erik, is what she says true? We're you the one to make that cruel joke at our new students expense?" 

Cartmans eyes widened, and he began stuttering out excuses. I didn't do it, she's making that up, it was actually Kyle who actually said it, all of his famous one-liners. PC principal wasn't having any of it though.

"You are in big trouble young man! Detention, for a week!" Cartman began to argue, but to everyone's surprise Y/n spoke up again, this time in a much dryer tone.

"Mr. Principal, I hate to interrupt, but I really think I could have handled that myself." She crossed her arms in front of her. 

PC principal turned around, slightly startled. "Ah. Well, I'm sure you could have, I just felt that it was my duty as your new principal to defend you." 

"Yes, and I'm grateful you were looking out for me. But what Eric said was a simple joke, and I was going to use it as an opportunity to talk about my sexuality. But then you barged on in here, sticking your nose into our business without our consent." She gave him an icy glare.

"I, well.. You see I was just.. Uh..." He stuttered, obviously not expecting her to speak like that. I glanced around, everyone else looked just as shocked.

She began pacing at the front of the class, arms behind her back. "It's almost as if, Mr.Principal, that you felt entitled my personal business. Perhaps it's because I'm a girl, and you are a straight white man."

Even Mrs.Grey was into this conversation now. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Craig and Clyde bet on who was going to win. 

"Now hang on a second, that's not what's happening!" The principal sounded somewhat nervous now. Cartman and Kenny looked on in bewilderment. 

"Oh, now your doubting my logic? Mr. Principal, forgive my bluntness, but I think you should Check. Your. Privilege." Her eyes were full of fury, and PC principal took a step back. He was like a foot taller than her, so his fear was actually kind of funny.

He cleared his throat nervously, and slipped his sunglasses back over his eyes. "I apologize for my mistake, I realize now what I did interfere with you freedom of speech as a woman, and you are correct in saying I need to check my privilege." He turned around to face Cartman again.

"Eric, I believe the right thing to do is take away six days of your detention." Cartman still didn't look happy. 

"What?! Why do I still have one day, I'm innocent!" He howled. PC principal just walked back over towards the doorway. 

"Because you swore at me and your teacher. Thank you for having me Mrs. Grey." And just like that he was gone, leaving Cartman to sulk.

Y/n shrank down onto the floor, her hands covering her eyes. "That was so scary!" She wailed.

"What do mean it was 'scary'? You literally chose to fight him." Kenny asked.

She peeked out from under her hands at him. Earning a cocky wave from Kenny.

She sat up against the wall, just underneath the Smartboard. "Well he was so tall! And he threatened to give him- " she gestured to Cartman. "-a week of detention for a joke, so imagine what he could do to me if he really wanted to." 

We all nodded. "Yeah, I think we all know how terrifying PC principal can be when you say something non-PC." Clyde said.

"Well why'd you defend him?" Asked Craig, glancing over at Cartman. She shrugged. "I dunno, I thought it was stupid he was gonna get in trouble for telling a dumb joke."

Cartman scoffed. "Well you did a shit job, cuz' I still have one day of detention!" She rolled her eyes.

"Hey man I'm sorry you decided to swear in front of the principal, but I can't help you with that." We all laughed, including Mrs.Grey, although she was trying her best to hide it by sipping her coffee. 

"Well Y/n, as I was saying before I was interrupted, you can sit in that empty seat between Wendy and Kyle for now." She pointed her in my direction, but she must have recognized Wendy or something, because she was in her seat in less than a second.

She turned and waved at me as Mrs.Grey started her lecture. I sheepishly waved back. She leaned over towards me. "Hi i'm Y/n." I leaned over as well. "I know. I'm Kyle." She stuck her hand out for me to shake, which I did. It was really cold. I yanked my hand away.

"Geez, do you not have gloves or something?" I whispered. She was about to respond, before Mrs.Grey threw a bean-bag at us. Y/n looked frazzled. 

"Mrs.L/n, you've been in class for 5 minutes and I'm pretty sure you've already made the principal cry. Please try not to do anything else distracting or i'll throw more." Mrs.Grey tossed another in the air and caught it. Y/n vigorously nodded, making Wendy giggle. 

"Thank you. Now, can anyone tell me...." I tried listening, but Y/n caught my eye and mouthed 'what was that?!' while eyeing Mrs.Greys Bean-bag. I shrugged and mouthed back 'That's normal'. She put her head down on her desk.

For the rest of the period I took notes on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, but Y/n scribbled maybe two things on her paper, then doodled the rest of the period. Every time I looked over at her, she would stop and start pretending to pay attention to Mrs.Grey. But I knew the truth.

When the bell rang I didn't even wait for the guys, I just sprinted out of there and tried to catch up to Y/n. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I practically waltzed out of class. Mrs.Grey seemed like a nice lady, but I don't think even she could make some dude getting shot interesting. I wanted to draw all class, but Kyle kept glancing over at me every minute, so I had to pretend to pay attention. 

I heard running feet from behind me, and for a moment I was afraid PC principal was going to get his revenge. But then a familiar green hat came into view. "Oh hey Kyle, what's up?" 

He snickered at me. " What's up is that you didn't do anything all class, and you're going to fail next weeks quiz." I turned to look at him.

"There's a quiz next week?" This apparently wasn't the right thing to say, as Kyle facepalmed. 

"Hey now be patient. Next week i'll still be the new kid, right? So if I flunk the quiz the teacher will probably let me off easily, and then i'll have passed the quiz but also won't have to study about some boring guy who got shot."

Kyle looked at me like I was crazy. "What, have you done this before?" I pulled out a packet of watermelon gum and put a piece in my mouth. "Nope."

We kept walking down the crowded hallways. "And by the way, that 'boring guy' who got shot caused World War one." He said, his smile clear in his voice. Before I could come up with a witty reply, Kyles friends came running up behind him. One was a lot more out of breath than the other, try and guess who.

The kid wearing the orange parka pulled up his hood, so now everything he said was all muffled. "Mmpphh mphhp mrhhhppp, mmmpphhp?" He said, glancing at me. "

"She wasn't paying attention in class, I was just making sure she knew there was a test next week." Kyle explained.

"I didn't." I smiled and shot finger guns at the parka kid. He laughed and shot some back at me. 

"Oh! Y/n, I don't think I ever told you our names." Kyle pointed out. I wagged my finger at him.

"No, I know that you're Kyle and he's Eric." I pointed at the parka kid. "I don't know who he is though, he's a mystery to me." Eric choked on the gum he not-so-secretly stole from me. I patted his back, and he started laughing like I had just told the best joke in the entire world.

"What?" I asked, looking to the other boys for help. The parka kid just rolled his eyes, and Kyle looked annoyed at the still cackling Eric. He looked at me and realized I didn't get it.

"Oh, uh, Cartman doesn't like to be called Eric, Y/n. He thinks his name is so stupid, every time he hears it he breaks down laughing. Right, Cartman?" Kyle asked him, putting a lot of emphasis on the 'right'.

"What? No it's because... Ohhhh. Yeah man my name is super cool, but I'm super self conscious so I hate it." Cartman said, not sounding self conscious at all.

"Uhh, you poor baby?" I said, still trying to be nice. Cartman puffed up his chest in pride, for some reason it all felt really familiar. Something clicked in my head.

"Wait, 'Cartman'? I was warned about you!" I pointed at him, causing a look of betrayal to cross his face. 

"Alright, which one of you asswipes told her about the stuff I said on twitter?!" Cartman yelled into the hallways, everyone stopped and stared at him. Besides that guy in the dark blue hat, he kept walking. 

"Nobody fatass." He calmly shouted back at Cartman. Cartman started fuming.

"Shut your gay mouth Craig!" He howled. By now everyone had started walking again, and I could only assume something like this happened everyday. I looked at my wrist.

"Uh guys? We should probably get to class. It'll be okay if i'm late because i'm new, but i'm pretty sure the teachers won't be so forgiving towards you." They all agreed.

"Hey Y/n what class do you have next, maybe I can give you directions." Kyle asked me.

"Y/n don't listen to him he's a jew, he's trying to steal your gold." Cartman vaguely said before walking off in a different direction. 

"Great seeing you too Cartman!" Kyle yelled after him. He was scanning my schedule, he pointed at my second period. 

"Oh cool Y/n, you have drama with Kenny." He said.

"Wait, who..." I started, the parka boy cut me off with a muffled "Me!". 

"Ohh, I guessed the mystery's officially solved them." I playfully pretended to punch him the arm. He responded by taking a rubber band off of his wrist and shooting it at me. I shrieked and picked it off the ground. I flung it at him, but I missed and accidentally hit Kyle in the face.

Kenny started laughing, and I rushed over to make sure he was okay. He seemed to be embarrassed over my cooing. "Y/n you're like my mom!" 

"Dude that thing almost hit you in the eye, I gotta make sure you're okay!" I poked his flushed cheek. He push my hand away and shooed off me and Kenny. Kenny grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the auditorium. He had pulled down his hood so I could actually understand him again. 

A very... Artistic? Looking man approached us when we walked in. He was decked out in all black, including, but not limited to, a black beret, a black scarf, shiney black shoes I could see myself in, and very tight looking black skinny jeans. It was ridiculous, but honestly he was rocking the look.

"Kenny, you are late." He dramatically pointed a down finger at Kenny. He pulled me closer to him. 

"Sorry Mr.Blackwell, I was helping Y/n get to class." He said. Mr.Blackwell whipped his head around and stared me down. I felt threatened, but also in my element. He reminded me of the judges at my old talent shows, so critical and majestic.

This guy also looked like he was on crack, so what do I know? 

"You are my new student?" He stooped over, and it occurred to me this guy must have been like 6'll or something. He looked me up and down, and it made me uncomfortable. 

"Uh sir? What are you doing?" I asked. Instead of making eye contact again, he kept looking me over. 

"You have the stance of a performer." He said simply.

"Oh yeah, my old singing coach always told me to stand straight or the notes wouldn't come out right." This seemed to make him happy. He stood up straight again and yelled to the other kids on setting up on stage. 

"YOU SEE?! THIS GIRL GETS IT! I TELL YOU ALL THE SAME THING BUT NOOOO, YOU ALL KEEP YOUR TERRIBLE POSTURE FOR NO FUCKING REASON!" I took a step back. 

I leaned in to Kenny. "Is swearing loudly just normal here?" He nodded. I looked over at the other kids, and they all seemed pretty unaffected by it. Well, besides a blond boy painting scenery on the far end of the stage. He seemed really shaken up by it. Literally, he was shaking. 

Kenny followed my eyes. "Oh that's Tweek. Don't worry about him, he's super addicted to coffee."

"Huh. He's a good painter." I said.

"Oh yeah, Tweek has always had too much energy, so he put it into art when we all started middle school."

That brought a smile to my face. "Nice. Good for him." 

Mr.Blackwell approached us again. "We are all in the middle setting up for the big school musical, Hamilton..."

I interrupted him. "WHAT? You guys are doing Hamilton? That's so cool!" I shouted. He looked amused at my enthusiasm.

"Ah, so you know of it. I was wondering if you wanted to maybe help us?" I didn't know it was possible, but I felt my heart swell when I heard that.

"Of course sir, I'd love to help!" He laughed. 

"Very good. Now we're only holding auditions for the understudies since it is so late in the year, but if you would still like to give it a shot we're holding them today after school. Until then, you will help make the sets, and in the show you will be in the chorus."

He pointed at the stage, so I nodded and sprinted over with Kenny at my heels. I plopped down next to Tweek, who seemed startled anyone even came near him. Kenny sat next to me. "Hey Tweek." 

"H-Hi Kenny! Who are y-you?!" He asked me. Jeez he was really high-strung. I looked past him and saw three empty coffee cups laying on the ground next to him. Okay, gotta be gentle with this kid, he could probably destroy the world if he wanted to.

"Hi I'm Y/n, I'm new to South Park." He shook my hand.

"W-welcome to South park, it's a l-lovely pl-AA-ce." I laughed at his jitteryness.

"Thanks. Since I'm new, I don't know what we're doing yet. So what are we supposed to be painting?"

Tweek started mixing some more paints together. "W-we have to paint bricks, to make it look like an old-timey city." The paints became a solid orangish-brown. "L-like this." 

I carefully watched him paint the rectangles, and shade them in such a way they all looked completely real. 

"Whoa man, that's so cool!" I squealed. "Can I try-......." I realized something awful. 

"Oh no!" I wailed, causing Tweek and Kenny to look at me confused. "What's wrong?" Kenny asked me.

"I just know that if I start painting, I'm gonna get this sweater dirty. And I promised my mom I wouldn't." I said, frustrated.

Kenny rolled his eyes and without missing a beat took off his parka, revealing a stained Terrance and Phillip t-shirt underneath.

"You are such a drama queen." He said, putting the parka on over my shoulders. I immediately put it on and zipped up the front, making sure no part of my moms sweater was visible. "Thanks Ken!" I beamed. 

Kenny looked amused as I noticed something a little inconvenient about his Parka. It covered up my mouth. I struggled to keep it down, but it always found a way back up.

"Trust me Y/n, there's no way to put it down. Just let it stay there." I huffed, my breath sticking to the fuzzy inside of the parka and making my face hot. I turned to Kenny.

"Your parkas stupid." He gasped.

"Oh my god, is that really what I sound like all the time?" I nodded, realizing he couldn't understand me. 

"Wow my parka's stupid." He turned back towards painting, and I did the same. It was peaceful, everyone was off doing their own things, and nobody was fighting. I started thinking about the play. I pulled down the parka down to talk.

"I hope I can become an understudy or something, I've always wanted to preform Hamilton." I said.

"Oh yeah it's super fun. I'm apart of the cast." He said.

"Oh really? Cool, who are you?" 

"I'm Lafayette, but I'm also the understudy for Hamilton if the douche ever drops out." I smiled brightly, ignoring the last part.

"Ken that's an amazing part! And there's a chance you'll get the leading part too, you're so lucky!" He smiled, but still rolled his eyes at the last part.

"Whatever you say Y/n. By the way, i'm totally coming to see you audition." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Thank you, but why?" He shrugged,

"It could be funny." I burst out laughing. 

"Wow Ken, thanks for the support!" He stood up and bowed. "Just doing my duty oh queen of drama!" 

The two of us giggled for a bit, then actually got done some serious work, where Tweek mostly just showed me how to do basic stuff and Kenny laughing at me.

Man, it's only been like two periods and It feels like I've been here all day. I looked over a Tweek, who was flicking paint at Kenny, who apparently had thrown a wet sponge at Tweek. They were having fun, mostly swearing at each other just getting hella dirty. 

It feels like i've been here all day, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.


	4. Home again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle introduces you to a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't judge me this writing is so oldddd

I was walking home from school, my eyes glued to the sidewalk. Mostly because the sun was reflecting off the snow, and I was literally blinded me everytime I looked up. It was inconvenient, especially since I still only had a vague idea of how to get home.

I was staring intently at a hole I found in my sneaker. It was small, but big enough so if I stepped in snow my socks would be drenched. I was pondering on how I could patch it up, when I bumped into someone. I stumbled back, slipping on ice and falling onto my butt.

I put a hand above eyes, trying to shield them from the sun. I peered up at whoever I bumped into, and realized something.

"Kyle? Is that you?" I asked. He smiled, and gave me his hand. I took it and got up.

"Sorry I didn't recognize you without your hat!" I said, patting his hair. He was ginger, not like the orange kind, but like a bright red. It was astounding. He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, Cartman spilled chocolate sauce on my hat, and my only extra is at my friend Stans house." He looked over my shoulder. "In fact, his house is right over there! Wanna come with?" He asked me.

I grinned. "Sure!" We began walking towards a dark green house on the other end of the road. I started thinking.

"Stan... Do I know him?" I asked Kyle. I was wracking my brain trying to remember if I had met him yet. Kyle rubbed the back of his neck.

"No, I don't think so. He wasn't at school today, he's sick." I made an 'Ohh' face, making Kyle crack a smile.

"Aw that sucks. Do you know what he has?"

He shook his head. "No, he just called me over spring break and said he couldn't... hang out with us for awhile." I glanced over at him.

"Why'd you stop in the middle of your sentence?" I jokingly asked. For a brief moment I saw panic cross his face, but I probably just imagined it, because a second later he was smiling at me.

"I don't know. Why? Are you paranoid?" He asked, chuckling. I began laughing too.

"Fair point. What would you have to hide from me? Well, besides that gorgeous hair!" I said, taking the opportunity to run my fingers through it again. It was super thick and curly, but still amazingly soft and well brushed. 

He chuckled again, a faint blush decorating his cheeks. "Thanks, but are you sure you like it?" He asked. He sounded nervous, it was weirdly different from his usual tone.

"Uh yeah, of course. Who doesn't like red hair?" I asked him, gently pulling on one of his curled locks. It shone a little in the sun, but all I really cared about was how springy it was when it bounced back.

"You'd be surprised." He said, trying to blow my hand away from his head. Taking the hint I pulled my fingers away, but not before pulling one last curl. He rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less

"If someone makes fun of your awesome hair, i'll beat their ass." I said smiling. Kyle looked a little shocked I swore, but after a brief moment of silence he burst out laughing.

"Pretty much the only person who makes fun of me anymore is Cartman." He said, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair. I got in front of him and stopped walking. 

"Well then, i'm going to need Cartmans address aren't I?" I grinned evilly. Kyle kept on laughing, clutching his stomach and keeling over. I looked over at him amused.

"Geez have you never heard a joke before?" He straightened up and wiped a tear out of his eye. 

"Your jokes are just different. In South Park I know everyone, so I've heard everyone's jokes before. I've gotten used to the way people talk. You're from New York, you have an entire different culture! Everything you say is just so...unexpected." He explained. I looked at the sidewalk again, thinking.

"Huh. I never really thought about that. I guess if you did know everybody, things would get boring after awhile." He shrugged.

"You make it sound a lot worse than it is. South Park can get pretty crazy sometimes." I glanced around at the snowy yards and quiet houses. 

"I'll take your word for it." 

We stopped in front of the house, and Kyle walked up the steps and tentatively knocked on the door. A woman with short brown hair answered.

"Oh hello Kyle. Stan's up in his room, but I don't think he's feeling too well. He hasn't left his bed in awhile." She looked over her shoulder towards the stairs. She then glanced behind Kyle to me. "Who are you? Are you Stans friend too?" 

I glanced a Kyle, who gave me 'I don't know what you should say' look. "Uhh, yeah kinda." I said, keeping it vague.

She looked at me for a moment, probably trying to see if she could trust me. "Alright then." She looked back at Kyle. "Why are you here?"

"I left my hat in your house, I think it's in Stans room." 

She stepped out of Kyles way, welcoming us in. "Alright but don't be too long, I don't want you both getting sick."

Kyle beckoned me to come with him. I stepped into the living room, and noticed all sorts of things. Everything was so clean, and I could tell even through my thin shoes the carpet was big and soft. Much different from the beige shag carpet we had at home. 

I guess Kyle notice my awe. "I know, Stan has the best stuff. Come one let's go up i'll introduce you guys." I nodded, and he held my hand and led me up the stairs. I noticed he looked pretty flushed while doing it, but I couldn't imagine why.

At the top there was a small hallway with rooms on each side, like at my house. Kyle let go of my hand and walked towards one. I followed behind from a safe distance. He gently knocked on it.

"Stan? Are you awake?" We heard a soft mumbling from the other side. I was confused, but Kyles face instantly morphed into understanding and fear. 

"Oh no..." He knocked again, this time louder and more panicked. "Stan! We're coming in!" He tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

"Stan unlock the door!" He nearly yelled. More mumbles.

"Is he okay?" I breathed. Kyle didn't respond, instead he knocked again quickly. 

"Dude unlock the-!" "I don't want to talk to you." Kyle was interrupted by a scraggly voice from the other side. Instead of responding, Kyle stared at the door. Then he glanced to me. I could see gears turning in his head, I however was completely dumbfounded. He turned back to the door.

"Than how about Y/n?" There was silence for a moment, then he continued. "I know you don't like talking to me. How about you talk to someone new?" 

I didn't know what to say. Kyle turned to me, maybe trying gauge if I was okay with this. I still had no idea what was happening, so I just nodded.

"...Okay." He said quietly from behind the door. I heard muffled footsteps, then a soft click as he unlocked it. Kyle stepped out of my way. Can't exactly back out now.

I found the door knob and turned it, I was greeted with a pitch black room. The only thing I could see was an unmade bed on a floor covered in garbage. I took a few steps in, I could smell something familiar, but I couldn't place what it was.

"Do you want me to close the door?" I said to the void. From the corner of the bed I noticed movements. A nod. I closed it behind me.

There was silence again. I decided to break it since I technically was the one supposed to be helping. 

"Uhh, hello. My name's Y/n, are you Stan?" 

I asked the corner. He was quiet a minute.

"Yeah." I heard him sigh, as if disappointed in himself. There was another awkward minute of quiet. I decided I had enough.

"Listen man. I don't know what i'm doing, I just wanna make sure you're okay. I can tell Kyle cares about you, and since he's my friend now I care about you too. Even if I don't know what you look like." I tried to lighten the mood.

"What's the point?" He asked glumly. I sat down on the far side of his bed.

"I don't know. What's your problem?" 

He sighed again. "I... I don't know. I just get so sad. Everything feels terrible." He muttered. 

"Sounds like depression." 

"But i'm usually happy! It only gets like this sometimes..." He sounded desperate.

"Yeah man, depression can be like that." I paused. "Tell me, even when you're happy, is there this nagging feeling in your head that makes you feel weird? Like a stage director that keeps feeding you bad lines?" 

"...Kinda. It's more like a teacher that keeps telling me how I messed up." I clicked my tongue. 

"That sounds more like anxiety. Seems like you've got a bad combination of both." He sighed.

"Why? Why do I have to have them? Why can't my brain just act normal?" His voice was getting more and more quiet, like an echo.

"I can't answer that. That's how it is sometimes." I stopped. My mom told me once to never make peoples problems sound unimportant. 

"How does it make you feel?" I asked, trying to correct myself.

"...Bad! It's just...terrible. All the time. Sometimes i'll feel happy, but then it all just goes downhill." He had traces of sadness in his voice.

"How do you feel about those feelings?" 

He pondered it for a moment. "...Scared." He sounded like he just had a breakthrough. 

"Why?"

"I... I guess because of my friends. I don't want to bother them, but I know I always do. No matter what I do, I always end up ruining something."

"Hows that?" I felt him shifting on the bed.

"I don't want to bum everyone out at school, so I stay at home. But then I can't do things with my friends. Either way I hurt their feelings." Even in the dark, I could tell he had started crying. 

"That must suck. I could never live like that." 

He sniffed. "Don't say that. I know you probably could."

I let out a half laugh. " You don't even know who I am." 

He chuckled a little too. "I could say the same for you."

The laughter died down into a thoughtful silence. "What should I do? I want to live a normal life again, but I don't know how to even begin..."

I shrugged. "I don't think life can be the way it was before all this started, that's not how mental illness works." I paused and scratched my head. "But, I think you can still be happy. Just in a different way." 

"...How?"

I looked down at my feet. "Just be honest with people. It'll suck for awhile, but eventually life will move on and things will get better. Everything is going to hurt sometimes, that's how things work. But if the people you love care about you, they can help lighten the load on your shoulders."

I faced the corner. A car drove by and I saw him for a brief moment. I couldn't see much, but he was hunched over. And his eyes were full of thought, but also hope. I kept talking.

"Life built a brick wall around you. And even if you can't knock it down, you can make a few good sized holes. And it helps if you have a friend to hand you the tools."

He didn't speak for a minute. But instead stood up, and walked to the other end of the room. He flicked on his light switch, revealing very messy black hair and stained up clothes. He stumbled to another corner of his room, and he glanced at me. 

I realized what the smell was. Alcohol. 

He had a half empty glass bottle in his hands. He stared at it for a second, before dropping it into his trash can with a satisfying thunk. I stood up, and hugged him. I noticed he was about a head taller than me.

"Good job." I mutter simply. He hugged me back. We stayed like that for a minute, just swaying back and forth. As if we were dancing, but we didn't know how to dance. He let go, but still stayed close to my figure. I did the same.

"Thanks. I really needed someone to talk to." He combed his fingers through his hair, pulling out a few knots. He glanced around at his messy room.

"I should really clean this up..." He looked back at me. "I'll do it later. I should go and talk to my friends first." 

I giggled. "Whatever you think is right dude." I walked to his door and put my hand on the knob. I looked back at him. "See you at school tomorrow?" He smiled and nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." I opened the door. Kyle was sitting at the foot of the stairs, messing on his phone. I could tell he wasn't really doing anything, as when I opened it he shot up and looked at me. I smiled at him like nothing happened.

"He'll be out in a minute." I trotted down the stairs and stepped on the floor in front of him. "I should get home, I need to practice for my audition tonight." He looked shocked, but nodded. 

"Bye! See you tomorrow!" I waved. He waved back.

"Y-yeah, see yah." I walked out the door, trying to figure out how to get home from this unfamiliar neighborhood. I walked in a random direction, hoping my terrible sense of direction would help me. I thought about what just happened.

'Jeez, I hope everything ends up alright for him. He seems like a good guy.'


	5. Audition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our little Y/n meets a few more people, and auditions for her school play!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a song in this chapter. Since this story comes from Quotev, I would usually have the music video to go with it. If you've never heard the song it is "Someone gets hurt" 
> 
> (copy past if link is buggy! It's a great song!) 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hBy11aK-qw

I grabbed my purse and waved goodbye to Kiyo, who was sitting in our tiny living room with a friend he met in kindergarten. They both were making a huge mess with the playdough she brought back from school, but they both looked so happy I didn't stop them. Besides, I didn't have time.

I stepped out of my house, and speed walked down my block to the high school. I had spent all afternoon practicing the song I chose for the audition, even though I knew every word by heart already, and I got so caught up in my 100th practice I realized I had only five minutes to get to the school. 

I arrived at the school. It felt weird knowing that pretty much nobody was here. I opened the doors and entered the hallway. It was so quiet inside I could hear the distant singing of other students auditions all the way across the building. It was...Soothing. 

I followed the voices, feeling a pit form in my stomach. I sighed at myself and began fidgeting with my hair.

'Damn it Y/n you've done this a million times, I shouldn't be feeling nervous anymore.' I thought, while pushing the auditorium doors open. The song a student was singing got more clear, it was some guy singing a song about cutting his hair. I'm pretty sure it was deep and about self loathing, I walked up to the front with Mr. Blackwell was sitting, enjoying his voice. 

His song. 

While I watched his audition I took a good hard look at him and... There were many spectacular things about his appearance. For one, he was super pale. But it didn't look like it was natural, it looked like he was wearing super white make up. 

His hair was long, like halfway down his back. A few inches of it were dyed a dark green, which I personally thought was really cute. 

From what I could tell he was wearing eye-shadow, and maybe even a hint of red lipstick. Either way this boy looked fun all around, mostly because I could tell he didn't care what people thought of him. It was nice.

What really stood out to me though were his clothes. He wore a big long black trench coat with red lining, black skinny jeans and a t-shirt I couldn't make out. His whole ensemble reminded me of something someone from 17th century France would wear or something, honestly the coat made the outfit.

His song was really angsty, but I loved it. I'm pretty sure Mr. Blackwell loved it too. As soon as the kid turned off his phone playing the music, Mr. Blackwell smiled at him and scribbled something on his paper. 

"Alright thanks Micheal you can leave now." He said, a bit harshly. I glanced at this supposed "Mike" to see what his reaction would be. He seemed okay with his rudeness, if anything he looked excited. 

"Thank you Mr. Blackwell. I think it will be good to have a vamp kid in the school play per say." His voice was surprisingly different from his singing voice, much more nasally. Also, vamp kid? Whatever, it's probably some goth subculture. 

"Alright well get off the stage. Next up is.. you Y/n. Do you have a song prepared?" He asked, turning to me. I cleared my throat.

"Oh... I did have a song in mind, but I don't have anything to play it on." I said, looking at the floor embarrassed. He rose an eyebrow at me.

"Do you not have a phone child?" I shook my head, feeling my ears heat up. "Ahh..." He responded. He stood up and looked around, before calling on the Mike kid.

"Micheal do you mind if Y/n uses your phone to play a song? You'll get it right back afterwards." Micheal shrugged and strutted over to me. He was very tall. I looked down and saw that under his long coat were a pair of leather platform boots covered in spikes. 

"Nice shoes." I commented, he looked down at me and smiled, showing off pearly white fangs. I subconsciously took a step back. "I'm sorry, what?" I leaned in closer, getting a better look at them, only to realize they were plastic. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dude I thought those were real for a sec! Why are you wearing them?" He slid his tongue over them while staring at me, I think he was adjusting them.

"I'm a vampire obviously. Or, should I say a Vamp kid." He said. I put my hands on my hips. 

"And what's that may I ask?" He was about to respond, when a girls voice from shadows interrupted him. 

"They're fucking dweebs that's what." I looked over his shoulder and saw four pale figures emerge from the darkness. The girl who said it was wearing a tight black dress with fishnet straps showing off all of her curves. She had short messy black hair, and wore heavy eye-liner. 

Along with her were three other equally dreary figures, one was towering above the rest with black curly hair and a cane. He looked tired. There was also a dude with shaggy red and black hair hanging in his right eye. He constantly was flipping his head back to get it out. Then there was what looked like a middle schooler standing in the middle, pouting. He also had black hair hanging in his face, but he just let it sit there. They all were smoking.

Mike stepped in front of me and sighed. "I don't care what you say, Vamp kids are cool." 

The kid with red and black hair flipped his head again. "Oh shut up Mike." 

He rolled his eyes. "For the last time Mike is my mortal name. Call me Vampir." The girl took a long drag from her cigarette. She blew it towards us, Mike..., Vampir... stopped most of the smoke from hitting me with his coat, but I still ended coughing a bit. 

"No." She said simply, if I wasn't wheezing so much I probably would have laughed. Suddenly Mr. Blackwell yelled from across auditorium.

"Come on kids we don't have all night. Y/n darling do you have the song yet?" I shook my head and glanced at Mike who nodded and gave me his phone.

"Thank you." I muttered, while trying to figure out how to play music. It wasn't too difficult, but I still felt like I was wasting time. I finally found it, "Someone gets hurt" from the new Mean girls musical. I walked over to Mr. Blackwell.

"Is this song okay sir?" He stared at it for a moment. I only asked him because there was a few parts that got a little spicy.

"It depends on what part you want child." He said, scanning over his list of characters.

I waved my hand. "Oh I'd be happy with any part, but I wanna sing this because it was the first thing I sang in an actual musical. I was so excited I practiced it a billion times, so I think this song is my best shot at getting a part."

Mr. Blackwell looked amused. "Alright well hurry up. I don't want to waste time." I nodded and gave him Mikes phone, which he plugged in to a speaker and waited for me to get on the small stage. I climbed up and gently tapped on the microphone. 

"Are you ready Y/n?" Mr.Blackwell asked. I nodded, feeling more confident now that I was under the hot bright lights. I couldn't see anyone past the first row where Mr.Blackwell was sitting, so I just pretended it was only him in the audience. 

The music started (Song above). I waited for the lyrics to start, feeling the familiar piano chords resonate in my chest. 

I closed my eyes, focusing on making my voice as sultry as possible. 

"Yes, I look perfect.."

"Ice queen that's what you see."

"It's what they all expect from me..."

I opened my eyes and gave my best evil look. "But it's all show~" 

The brass began, I felt more powerful. 

"Face it you used me,"

"You saw the sexy clothes,"

"My super model pose..."

"But did you know?" I tapped my foot along with the music beats.

"Was I a game to you?"

"Was I a way to be cool?"

"I truly cared...was I the fool..?"

"It's fine for you, it's fine to flirt, it's fine..."

"'till someone gets hurt."

I swayed with the heavy music.

"'Till someone gets hurt!" 

I took a quick breath. "Feel my heart beating..."

"I'm just like her or, you." 

"People forget i'm human too." I put my hand on my chest in fake sadness.

"Yes they do that."

I waited for my next line, getting more and more into my character.

"This is performance.."

"This is all self defense."

"I thought you had the sense.."

"To See Through That!"

"Was I too proud with you?"

'Was I too cold and forbidding?" 

"And you chose her over me..."

"Are you kidding?!" 

"Poor little me all trapped in this fabulous show!"

"You could set me free, but if you're going go!" 

"It's fine for you! It's fine to flirt..."

"And god, you're hot! Why do you even wear a shirt?!"

"No, it's fine!" I listened to the background voice in the music sing a 'Damn you're fine!" I sang over it.

"Damn you're fine!"

"And it's fine.....!"

"'Till someone gets....!"

The music kept playing, which I took as a chance to catch my breath,

"'Till someone gets hurt." I mentally prepared myself for my next line.

"'TILL SOMEONE GETS HURT......!"

And I was finished. Everything was quiet for a minute, and my panic overtook me again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mr.Blackwell stand up. 

"Bravissimo! Excellent work Y/n! A fine audition, simply marvelous!" He cheered, clapping loudly. I flushed as other unseen members of the audience began cheering as well.

I scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed. "Oh, uh...Thank you so much!" I heard a distant "Go Y/n!" I snapped my eyes in the direction it came from, only to see a familiar orange figure running up to me.

I laughed and stepped off the stage. I was knocked back a little by Kennys warm hug. I giggled and pushed him away.

"Jeez Ken at last take me for dinner first!" He laughed, and over his shoulder I saw Kyle and Stan running up after him.

"Y/n that was great!" Kyle said. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks man, I tried." I said, grinning. Stan walked up, looking a tad embarrassed. 

"Hey Stan! What did you think of it? Ya think it was good enough to get a part?" I said, trying to help this poor dude out.

He glanced up at me, a hint of thankfulness in his eyes. "Oh yeah it was great, you're gonna get something for sure."

I grinned at him before turning back to Kenny. "So Ken, was it as hilarious as you had hoped?" He playfully rolled his eyes.

"Actually yes, out of everything you could have sang, you chose the thirstiest song." I put my hand on my chest and gasped dramatically.

"How dare you! That song is nothing but pure and innocent guilt tripping!"

Kenny smirked. "Y/n we all heard those lyrics. That was the most seductive thing anyone ever could sing." I blushed.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Whatever, at least I did good."

He traced a finger under my jaw. "Yes...very good." I slapped his hand away and he began laughing at my misfortune. 

"Gross Ken!" I yelped. The other boys were chuckling too. I soon joined them, after all I learned Ken was just like this. 

Suddenly Stan spoke. "What do you want?" I glanced over towards him. Mike was standing there, looking annoyed. 

"I'm just trying to get my phone." He said, looking at me. I perked up and raised my finger at him, signalling for him to wait there. I rushed over to the speaker and unplugged his phone, before walking back.

"Here you go, thanks for letting me use it!" I said happily. He smiled at me.

"Of course young one. See you later." He said, walking away. I just looked at his leaving figure confused.

"Young one? He doesn't look any older than me." I said quizzically. The boys sighed.

"Yeah he thinks he's a vampire. It's weird, he's been doing it since 5th grade." Stan said. I continued to look at where he was standing.

"Huh. So is that was a "Vamp kid" is?" 

"Yeah, that's what they call their club. I never really understood it." Kyle said. I put a finger on my chin.

"Oh, so they're goth kinda?" I said, trying to put them in a category. I heard groans come from behind me, but it wasn't the boys.

"They're not goth!" The boy with the red in his hair shouted, clenching his fists. Before I could respond Kyle came to my defense.

"Hey man leave her alone, she was just guessing." The boy rolled his eyes and flipped his hair out of his face.

"Whatever, those vamp douches are more emo than goth." The tall boy said. Stan rolled his eyes. 

"What's the difference?" I could practically feel rage emanating off of them. Before they could yell I jumped in.

"Emo is sad, goth is angry." I said, hoping my simple explanation was good enough. I glanced at the goth kids, who all looked at me, a little shocked.

"What? Was that wrong?" I asked. 

"No, that was actually...pretty spot on." The red haired boy said. 

"Yeah, you know a lot for a conformist Nicki Minaj wannabe." The girl said. I scratched the back of my head.

"Thank you?" 

"Don't thank us, we're not like you." The little kid said. He sounded like a baby, it made my motherly instincts go into overdrive. 

"...Okay then... Y/n we should get out of here." Stan said. I rose an eyebrow at him.

"Why?" He glanced at me, like he wasn't expecting me to say anything.

"They're just not the best people to be around." He muttered. I glanced at the goth kids, who didn't protest. 

"I mean he's not wrong." The girl said. I shrugged.

"Okay, well can I at least get your names? I'm Y/n." I said, extending my hand. Like I expected, they didn't take it. Instead the girl just blew smoke into my hand. 

"I'm Henrietta." She said. I nodded and looked to the next boy, the one with black and red hair.

"I'm Pete." He said, flipping his head again. I waved. "Cool, I like your hair." 

"I'm Micheal. Don't compliment me." The tall curly-haired boy said. Huh, two people named Micheal. Maybe that's why Vamp-kid-Micheal went by Mike, or Vampir I guess.

And finally the last kid spoke. "My name's Firkle. It doesn't matter though, nothing matters." He said. I desperately wanted to hug him. He must have seen it in my eyes. "I'm not some baby you can coddle. My innocence was wiped from my brain a long time ago."

I uncontrollably smiled. "Sorry kid you're adorable!" I squealed. He pouted. While the rest of the goth kids smirked at him.

"I'll gut you." He said, stomping his foot. 

"Violence won't make you less adorable." I said, grinning annoyingly at him. He whined and stomped off, followed by the rest of the goth kids. They all headed behind the stage.

"Where are they going? I thought the exit was over there." I asked, gesturing to where I came in.

"Didn't you see them during drama Y/n?" Kenny said. "They do all the backstage stuff, like lights and the curtains." I saw Kenny check his pockets.

"Speaking of backstage, I think I left my wallet there during school. You guys wanna come with me to get it?" He said, pointing to the thick red curtains.

"Yeah sure, lets-a-go!" I said, jumping like Mario. The boys gave me a combination of chuckles and eye-rolls.

We all wandered backstage, and began looking around for a stray wallet. I drifted away from the group and searched in the costume room on the far right side of the stage. I skimmed through the different fabrics, looking in between each fold for any trace of his wallet.

I went deeper into the room, where a bunch of grey and blue storage bins sat all stacked on top of each other. They were all labeled different musicals and plays messily in sharpie. They seemed to be costumes from old shows. 

Out of curiosity I started searching through them. Random hats covered in feathers, assorted coats with weird patterns, some striped tights, tons of skirts and dresses with differing degrees of glitter, just a ton of stuff people wore in the drama club before I came to South Park.

I came across a bin of masks. I picked through them, enjoying the craftsmanship of each one. There were small but detailed masquerade masks, adorned with feathers and glued on sequins. 

Then there were larger full-face masks. These interested me a lot, for reasons I couldn't explain. I enjoyed the different patterns on each one, and I liked imagining what they possibly could have been used for.

Suddenly I came across a very pretty mask. It was purple and covered in golden swirls and cracks, parts of it were made to look peeled, and underneath was sheet music. Fringed off the left side of it were groups of purple and green peacock feathers. I held it in my hands for a minute, admiring the craftsmanship that went into it.

'Man, the only thing keeping this mask from being a disguise is the eye-holes. If those were blackened out..' I thought, while an entire new thought interrupted it. I held it out in front of me, gazing over it's edges and curves. I looked around and slipped into my purse. 

I stood up and exited the room after putting everything back the way I found it. As soon as I stepped out Kenny ran up to me.

"Y/n there you are! We were looking all over for you!" He said. He waved his hands above his head.

"Guys it's okay, she was in the costume room!" I heard assorted sighs of relief, followed by the pattering of footsteps as the guys ran over to us.

"I'm gonna assume you found your wallet?" I asked. Kenny nodded and pulled it out of his pocket. I noticed a few splatters of white on it that weren't there before. Kenny must have noticed too.

"It was over by where we are painting before, and for some reason it was covered in white paint." He said, giving me a playful deadpan look. 

"Are you saying I got paint on it Ken? Cuz I have to remind you that during most of class I was just doing my work, and you and Tweek were flicking paint at each other the whole time." I said, putting my hands on my hips sassily. 

He stuck his tongue out at me, and I did the same thing to him. He both stood there in mock fury before I bursted into more giggles.

A thought struck me. "Uh Ken? What time is it?" He pulled out his phone and looked at the clock.

"6:15, why?"

I bolted up and looked around at my friends, who were all giving me quizzical looks. I ran my hands through my hair in a blind panic.

"I have work! Oh my god I gotta get there in ten minutes!" I screeched. Kyle patted my back.

"Then go! We'll all see you tomorrow. Besides we gotta pick up Cartman from detention." He said, gesturing me offstage. I nodded and booked it out of there, yelling behind me:

"SEE YOU GUYS! SAY HI TO CARTMAN FOR ME!"


	6. Working hard or...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another day on the job. Unfortunately...

I sprinted down the busy sidewalk, nearly bumping into everyone I passed. I looked around for the familiar orange and white building I worked at. I could hardly remember where it was compared to the school. Thankfully South Park was pretty small, so after about ten minutes of running around I finally found it. Raisins.

I ran around to the back of the building, and entered the back door into the dressing room. Inside all of the other girls sat around chattering and putting on their heavy makeup and uniforms. They all turned to look at me, and waved. Brittany walked up to me and hugged me.

"Y/n! We all thought you weren't gonna make it, come on you have to get ready!" She pulled me with her into the small changing room as I grabbed my uniform out of my cubby. 

"Stephanie! Rachael! Kayla! Y/n is here!" She said calling over to the three girls. I smiled at them as they strutted over, makeup pallets in hand.

"I wanna thank you guys again for helping me get ready everyday. I'd never be able to do it all by myself." I said, as they got to work on my face. . 

"Oh it's no problem Y/n, every girl here remembers her first day, and none of us would have made it this far if we didn't help each other out!" Kayla said, applying mascara to my eyelashes over and over.

"Y/n was the boss nice to you yesterday? She didn't make things too hard did she?" Rachael asked, applying bright red lipstick. I had to wait a minute for her to finish.

"She wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but she did make me look around for my paycheck like you said." I blipped, wincing as the girls pulled my hair into a tight bun.

"Oh that's terrible! Was it in the U-store warehouse?" Brittany asked, applying heinous amounts of foundation to my skin. 

"Yeah. What did she do the same thing to you?" I asked, sighing. 

"Oh yeah! She does that to everyone!" Said Kayla. The rest of the girls all agreed, nodding and giggling. 

"Aaaand... we're done!" Brittany said, pulling away to look at my face. She smiled and flipped up the small mirror in her blush and pointed it at me.

I examined myself. "Damn." I said. I looked like a super model, my face was molded into a completely different shape, my eyes were much bigger and rounded, my lips were full and red. I looked like a completely different person. (Kinda like this!)

"I look amazing!" I gushed, looking at myself from every angle. The girls all giggled and flipped their hair, as if on command. 

"Of course you do! We know how to make a girl look good! After all..." Stephanie said, handing me my orange short shorts and low cut white tank top. "...That's how the boys want it." I nodded and stood up, taking my uniform from her.

"The boys are a little spoiled don't ya think?" I asked, earning a giggle from most of the girls.

"Girls hurry up, we're about to open!" Somebody said, peering into the dressing room. 

"'K K!" Kayla said. I snickered at the irony. 

We all scurried out into the main restaurant and found our sections. The countdown began.

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE!" 

Jenna unlocked the glass front door, and in came about Fifteen boys around our age. They all flocked to different tables, staring everyone down and whispering excitedly.

Somebody started the big music speakers in the corner, and I settled into my shift as more boys came through the entrance. I sashayed over to a table, much more flamboyant than I would normally.

"Hey guys welcome to Raisins! My names Y/n, but you can call me anything you want cuties!" I said cheerfully, putting a hand on the closest guys shoulder. He had messy (ish) brown hair and deep blue eyes, if I wasn't so preoccupied with everyones order I would have looked into them longer. 

He practically melted into my touch, something that was pretty common from what I heard from the other girls. 'Keep your hand there Y/n, that'll make him feel like he's special.' I thought to myself. I looked up at the rest of the boys, but still kept my hand on his shoulder.

Something about them looked oddly familiar. It struck me that I had all these boys in my class's. Tweek was even there! I think he recognized the name, but since my face was heavy with makeup I don't think he really put together I was the Y/n he met earlier. 

There was also the boy in my homeroom, the boy with the dark blue hat and deadpan stare. I couldn't read whether he recognized me, but chances weren't very high as far as I could tell. He didn't seem to care when he first saw me, and the makeup probably threw him off just like with Tweek.

Then there was also some other boy sitting with them. He was looking over the menu silently. I felt like I recognized him from somewhere too, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Well what do you guys need? Can I start you off with some drinks?" I asked, fluttering my eye lashes. I glanced down at the boy I was touching, who was a blushing mess.

"I-it's my birthday... Can we get a couple of sodas?" The boy asked. I nodded joyously.

"Of course! Anything for your special day!" I said, trying to be as perky as I could.

He blushed more, a dreamy cloud seemed to fall over his eyes as he stared at me. I turned to the rest of them.

"Is that all sweethearts? Okay i'll be back in just a sec!" I slipped away from their table, waving prettily. I went up to the kitchen and began pouring drinks. When I was done I located the small bell near the kitchen window and rang it three times, alerting every other girl.

I smiled big and rose my hands into the air. "Hey girls! It's that cuties birthday over there! Lets all wish him a happy Birthday the Raisins way!" The girls all flocked over to the boys table, complementing him on everything. I trotted up with the platter of drinks in one hand, and began moving my other like composer.

"Happy birthday to you!" I began. The rest of the girls joined in, and from what I could see this boy was eating it up. When we got to where we needed his name, I leaned in over and whispered in his ear.

"Sweetie what's your name~?" I could see goosebumps crawl up and down his arms. "Clyde..." He whispered back. I perked up.

"Happy birthday dear Clyde..!" I sang, the rest of the girls joining in after realizing what I did. We finished the song and I leaned over and ruffled his hair. 

"Here are your sodas guys! Can I get you guys started with some of our world famous cheddar poppers?" I said, repeating what the boss told me to yesterday.

"Yeah sure." The boy in the blue hat said in a monotone voice. He glanced over at the boy still quietly reading over the menu. "What do you want Token?"

This guy, "Token" Looked up and seemed to finally remember where he was. "Oh thanks Craig...I'll have the mild ranchy buffalo wings if that's alright." He said.

I nodded and scribbled down what everyone wanted before waving and walking away. Everything seemed to be going alright.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ Timeskip!  
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I had nothing to do. All of my tables were served and there were different girls at each one. When the boss was training me she told me to always be busy, and if i'm not I still have to be appealing to the boys.

I glanced over at the cardboard box in the middle of the restaurant. A few girls were already standing around it dancing and playing with the random things inside. I sighed and walked over, waving at my coworkers as I went.

I stared into the box, trying to think of something actually fun to do. I came across a couple bottles of silly string, and an idea started forming in my head.

"Brittany! You wanna have some fun?" I whispered, waving the bottles around devilishly. She grabbed the pink one and looked at it for a minute, before glancing back at me with an evil grin on her face.

"Oh we are so getting $20 tips with this!" She said excitedly. We highfived and ran towards the part of the restaurant with the most boys. 

"Brittany no! I'm so sensitive!" I shrieked. She sprayed some of can onto me, catching the attention of everyone. 

"Oh please no!~" I moaned. I almost started giggling at how ridiculous I sounded. I glanced over at my tables, and saw with satisfaction that almost everybody I was serving had at least a slight blush on their face. Even Craig! I hadn't gotten even a smile from him all afternoon.

I sprayed some of mine onto her, causing her to fall back. I got on top of her and held her hands above her head. I felt dirty. But as far as I could tell she was okay with this, and the boys were cheering and staring more than if it was just me hula-hooping, so I knew that what I was doing wasn't terrible.

We both giggled and playfully struggled against each other. It was weird, too weird. I stood up and started spraying her again, leading her into a little chase. She seemed thankful to be off the floor, and ran after me. After a minute we stopped, and went back to our sections. Boys were chattering everywhere. 

I glanced at Brittany from across the room, who rolled her eyes at all the guys whispers. "Easy." She mouthed. I had to agree.

I turned and strutted to Clydes table, who seemed to both be gesturing for me to come and actively blocking me from their line of sight.

"Oh she's so silly! What do you guys need?" I asked, picking silly string out of my hair. They all had a dusting of blush on their faces, which I was very proud of.

"GAH! J-just some M-more soda please!" Tweek yelped. I nodded and sashayed off.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

Timeskip!  
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

I only had around 20 minutes left of my shift, and Jesus I was tired. The boys were so needy today, constantly wanting to talk about all the great stuff they had done to impress me. I would normally love talking, but it was always such a one sided conversation. I had to just sit there and tell them how brave and handsome they were until they let me just do my job.

'Well, it's not the worst job in the world.' I reminded myself. 'At least the works easy, at least I don't have to do any cleaning.' I thought, trying to cheer myself up.

One table that refused to go all night, the one that held my acquaintances from school, finally seemed to be packing it up. As per usual, I walked over to them.

"Oh darlings are you leaving already?" I asked, winking at Tweek. He became a blushing mess immediately. If I wasn't worried about the tip I would have full on laughed, but since apparently that's not very cute I settled for a high pitched giggle.

"Yeah, it was great here today! Especially with you here..." Clyde said, leaning in towards me. He was being a huge dork. It would be endearing if his breath didn't smell like ranch and cheese.

"Aww, thanks Pumpkin, I really likes having you all here too. Come back sometime!" I squeaked. He waved and stumbled backwards out the front door, his friends following him. I glanced around at the nearly empty restaurant, and decided to head back into the changing room.

I stepped inside, and stripped off my uniform. I quickly changed and helped the other girls wash off their makeup, before letting them wipe off mine. I went around the little room giving hugs to all my friends, and helping them with whatever they needed. 

Brittany came over, her clean face smiling brightly against the dim light coming through the small outside window. "You ready?" She asked. I gave her a thumbs up and handed her purse to her. We waved goodbye to the other girls and stepped into the alleyway. 

Before we could step out and onto the sidewalk, Brittany held an arm out in front of me, slamming me to a halt. I glanced at her.

"What are you-""SHH!" She interrupted me. I stayed silent and followed her gaze, freezing when I realized what she saw. 

"Um... Who are you?" Brittany asked. Her voice was shaking slightly.

The figure slowly stood up straight. It exhaled a breath laced with cigarette smoke, then turned to us. It's huge hulking mass quivered slightly as it let out a throaty laugh. I felt a shiver go down my spine.

"What are such pretty girls doing alone out here?" 

"...We're waiting for our boyfriends. They're inside right now getting our stuff." Brittany lied. I nodded, trying my hardest to look confidant. 

He laughed again, and stood in a way that blocked our view of the street. My throat began to tighten. I casually reached over behind me, a large tree branch stood propped up against the side of the building. I grabbed it and hid it from his line of sight.

"That's too bad. You girls really could have used their protection." He said, taking step towards us. We tried to back away, but we were already at the end of the ally.

"Listen mister, we don't want any trouble." I said, steadying my grip on the branch. He took another step in our direction.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to make you feel good." Brittany let out a shaky gasp, at some point during all of this she began crying. 

"No thank you." I said, my voice as dry as I could make it. I stepped in front of her, branch in hand.

He chuckled darkly. "Darling, I didn't ask." He took another step. "I saw you two inside, playing around like the sluts you are. You were practically asking for a real man to come and take you." I growled.

"Leave. Us. Alone." I spat. He suddenly came closer, and grabbed Brittany's wrists from behind me. I jumped up and brought the branch down onto his greasy back, slamming him away from her. He stood up again and looked at me with fury in his eyes. 

"YOU STUPID WHORE! I'LL KILL YOU!" He came charging at me, disrupting all the trash laying on the ground. I whacked him in the chest, hearing a sharp crack.

"RUN!" I yelled at Brittany, who nodded and scrambled out of the alley while he was distracted. He stood up again and decked me in the face, causing me to fall back onto my elbows. I winced as I started to bleed. 

Before he could hit me again I reached up and jabbed him hard in the stomach, knocking him back. I bolted up and hit him around the head with the branch, and he fell. He stayed down, and I poked him from a safe distance to be sure he wasn't faking. 

I stood off to the side to catch my breath. My heart was racing faster than it even had before. While I was considering if I should run after Brittany or call the police, a deep, familiar voice broke my thoughts. 

"You should probably leave the crime fighting to the crime fighters don't you think?" I turned around and was met face to face with Mysterion. His eyes widened for a second, but then settled back into their usual steely gaze.

"I would love to, but there weren't any crime fighters around to help me." I panted. He glanced over at the man laying on the ground. He looked back at me.

"You...took this man down by myself?" He asked. 

"Yeah, I had a stick." 

He looked at me quizzically, before sighing. "I need you to come with me." He said.

"What? Why?" I asked, but before I could ask anymore questions he interrupted me.

"Don't worry.You can trust me." He said, extending his hand for me to take. I thought about it for a minute, before shrugging and taking it.

"Well, what have I got to lose?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These girls are important, so I hope everyone accept them for who they are.


	7. Mental Breakdown!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/n is taken somewhere special. And... it doesn't sit well with her.

"Where are we?" I asked Mysterion. He had put a scarf over my eyes maybe ten minutes ago, and had been dragging me around blindly by the arm ever since.

"I can't tell you that, the whole point of blinding you was so you wouldn't know." He said deeply, pulling me right. I groaned.

"Really. I thought it was a sex thing." I said sarcastically. He was quiet for a minute but I knew he must have been rolling his eyes so hard he could see his brain. 

"Listen Mysterion, I don't know why you're taking me anywhere. I didn't do anything bad as far as you know." 

He tugged me again, this time to the left. "You beat up that man. You cracked his rib for gods sake, we need to make sure you aren't going to be a public hazard."

I huffed. "I only hurt that guy because he tried to rape me and my friend! If anything he deserved worse!" I cried. 

Mysterion stopped, and I nearly bumped into him in my blind state. "...What?" He asked, going deathly serious.

"I only hit that guy because, and I repeat, he tried to rape me and my friend." I muttered. When he didn't do anything I continued. "That man was going to hurt us. I only defended myself and Brittany because we would have been mentally scared for life if I didn't." 

He was still quiet for a moment, and I had nothing left to say. 

"...I'm sorry." He said, softly. I didn't say anything back.

"I...I didn't know. I'm sorry." He said. I was silent a minute before squeezing his hand.

"I accept your apology. I just don't want Coon and friends to think i'm some menace to society." I joked. He sighed again, this time I think out of relief. 

"Well I still need to take you in for questioning." He said, beginning to walk again. I stumbled along with him.

"Why?" 

"I can't tell you, it's important super hero business." He said. I groaned, this time it was mostly playfulness though. 

"Well I'm not in trouble anymore right?" I asked. He gave me a swift hard "No." In return. I giggled at his change in tone, before tripping slightly on a crack in the sidewalk.

"Karma." I heard him mutter.

We walked for a little while longer, before he stopped and I heard him shifting in front of me. "Stairs." He muttered. I rose my foot and found the top of each step, slowly lifting myself.

He knocked on a door, then it opened with a soft creak from the inside. A nice sounding woman answered.

"Oh hello dear, I believe Er-" Mysterion cut her off. "Miss please just let me go down thank you." He said quickly. She hummed in agreement and shuffled aside. I felt myself get pulled through the doorway and into a very warm house. It smelled vaguely of cinnamon somewhere.

"Come on, hurry." Mysterion said, tugging my sleeve.

"Hey easy on the sweater this isn't mine." I said. 

He lead me slowly down a flight of stairs, into what I could only assume was a basement. Finally when we were at the bottom he untied the scarf from around my eyes. I blinked once to adjust myself to the new light, and saw that I was in fact surrounded by the Coon and friends. 

"Okay then." I said to no one in particular. They all glanced at each other, visible confusion spreading across their faces. The coon stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"Mysterion why have you brought this civilian into our fortress of Coonitude?" He asked in a mighty voice. I giggled at his weird presentation.

"She was attacked in an alleyway, we need to know whether or not the guy who did it was a threat." I turned to look at him and rose a quizzical eyebrow. 

"Um... okay than. Civilian are you willing to answer to our questioning?" The coon asked. 

"Yeah I guess. I gotta get home soon though." I said. I glanced around the room, it was covered wall to wall with super hero stuff and decorations. It actually looked like a place super heroes might hang out.

"Okay then, take a seat please." He sniffed. I nodded and sat down at the far end of a long table standing in the middle of the room. The rest of the Coon and Friends sat down along the ends of it, and the coon sat at the other end with his arms crossed.

"Alright. To begin i'll need to know some basic information about you." He said to me. The rest of the heroes sat in silence, waiting for my answer.

"Okay... My name is Y/n L/n. I just moved here around a week ago, and I'm pansexual. Is that good enough?" I asked. They all looked at each other, like they knew everything I said already.

"Okay. Good. Now to the scene of the crime. Where did this happen?"

"In the alleyway next to Raisins. That's where mystery boy found me."

Mysterion looked miffed, and shot a dirty look in my direction. I ignored it and continued smiling.

The coon rose an eyebrow at me. "What were you doing in the alleyway next to Raisins?" 

I didn't say anything. I didn't really want to tell anyone about where I worked, not yet anyway. It was just kinda embarrassing.

I knew that I shouldn't be embarrassed, it's just a job. But what I did was so demeaning, I felt the need to hide it from everyone who asked me. 

"Y/n? We need an answer." Toolshed said. 

"I don't really wanna answer that." I said slowly. They all glanced at each other again.

"Why?" Human Kite asked, scratching his head.

I looked away from them, still confused. "I don't really know myself. I just can't."

The coon sighed. "Are we going to have to interrogate you? We usually save it for super villains, but if you're not gonna cooperate then we might have to." 

"....Maybe." I said, after a minute of more silence. The coon huffed.

"You really aren't helping anyone here. If we're too busy interrogating you, you might even stop us from helping someone who needs our assistance." He growled.

I rolled my eyes. "This coming from the guy who released Cthulhu when he was ten." He turned to me, furrowing his eyebrows. 

"How do you know about that?" 

I shrugged, looking up at him. "My brother Kiyo talks about you guys all the time. Whenever I watch him he always has a new story he learned about you." 

He put a hand up to his chin, like a cartoon character deep in thought. 

"So how much do you know about us exactly?" He said, leaning in closer to me.

I shrugged again and leaned back in my chair. "About as much as my brother knows, and that's everything."

Mysterion groaned. "You can't possibly know that much because of a little kid." 

I stared at the ceiling. "Quiz me." I said simply.

They all stayed silent for a minute again. I was starting to wonder if they were doing it on purpose to intimidate me, because if so it wasn't working. The coon interrupted my thoughts by standing up and glaring at me through his mask.

"Alright. Who on our team has telepathic powers?" 

I gestured towards Dr. Timothy with my thumb, while blowing a bubble with the gum I forgot I had during this whole ordeal. 

The team looked around anxiously, before Toolshed scoffed. "That was easy, give her a hard one."

I giggled slightly. "Heh. Hard one." I mumbled. They all either smirked at my crude joke or rolled their eyes, it was more of the latter.

"Enough of that." Coon commanded. "Let's go back a little. We're there any former members of our team that you know about?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Who?"

I lolled on his question for a minute. "Oh what's his name? Mint berry something something."

"Mint berry crunch? You actually remember that asshole?" Coon shouted. 

I smiled. "Yeah, yeah him! I only remember him because he was like an alien, right?"

The boys all got a bit huffy at that for some reason, especially Mysterion. 

"Yeah but that was like, the only interesting thing about him." He brooded.

I smiled annoyingly at him. "That's good enough for me!"

"Okay, what about..." He began. At about this point my brain switched into auto-pilot. All the questions were easy enough to answer, just random facts about them anyone would know. "Who has this power?" "Whos backstory involves this?" "Why does this guy look like that?" A kindergardener could answer them.

In fact, if I brought Kiyo in here he would probably start asking his own questions. But apparently the fact that I knew any of this was pretty worrying for the boys in tights, because the coon stood up after 20 or so questions.

"Coon and friends. Emergency meeting.... over there." He said, pointing in a random direction away from me. I sat and silently watched them shuffle over to the spot, glancing at me the whole time. 

"Do you mind?" Human Kite asked. I huffed and plugged my ears, but I still kept my eyes open. 

With nothing to listen to and distract me, I focused on the boys. They were all huddled together, with their backs facing me. Occasionally one would peek out of their little circle and check on me, I guess to make sure I wasn't listening. 

Staring at them I got that feeling again. Like I recognized some of them from somewhere. 

'But the last time I felt that, it was at Raisins. And it was with that boy Token...' I thought. I realized something.

I froze. I cautiously looked up at the boys, who were all still talking. My eyes slowly scrolled over all of their forms, half-dreading whether or not I was right. My eyes landed on a body. His face was blocked by another heroes body, but I could still tell who he was by his outfit. 

Tupperware. The hero who was, according to Kiyo, run over and had to be put back together with Tupperware. He could take it off whenever he wanted, but if he tried to do anything strenuous without his plastic suit, like any of his superhero duties, he would get severely hurt or die.

I continued to stare at him, my mind racing. Suddenly he jerked his head back, as something inside their little circle made him wince.

I gasped quietly. "No way...." I muttered. His head was hidden again, but I had seen enough. I was right. Token...was...Tupperware.

I glanced at a few other heroes, and suddenly everything started making sense. All the pieces were fitting together in my mind.

Wonder Tweek and super Craig....How had I been so blind? Neither of them wore masks, and they didn't even try and disguise their names!

The more I looked around the more obvious it was. Toolshed....he was just Stan! He wasn't wearing his hat and had on safety goggles. That's all there was to it! 

Mosquito... that was Clyde! I just served him all afternoon. It's his birthday! 

Fastpass was Jimmy, the funny kid I was paired with in English class! Doctor Timothy was Timmy, the wheelchair guy I passed in the hallways. I helped him pick up his books today! 

Human kite.... a few curled red locks fell into his face from under his disguise. 

"Kyle..." I mumbled. He glanced over, but out of habit I put on a bored face. He looked back into the group, probably assuming he heard nothing.

The only two I couldn't figure out were the only two who actually hid their faces. The coon and mysterion. But after realizing I knew all of these boys, I just compared them to my friends.

The coon must have been Cartman. His voice was the same, and he had the same body type as Cartman. Then there was just Mysterion.

He, I actually needed time for. Unlike the rest, he covered up pretty much his entire face with his disguise, but I still had some stuff to go off of.

His chin poked out, that was pretty much all I could see of his face. He had a few golden locks of hair hanging out the sides of his hood, kinda like Kennys. 

'Could it be?' I thought. Maybe. It wouldn't be the craziest thing, considering all his friends were on this team with him.

I noticed something caught in one of those yellow strands, from this far away I couldn't tell exactly what, but it reminded me of when Kiyo got peanut butter in his hair once.

He glanced over at me and caught me staring. "What?" He asked.

I unplugged one ear and pointed, "You've got something in your hair." 

He ran his fingers through what little hair was sticking out, finally coming across what I saw. He picked at it for a second before pulling it out.

"W-w-what is it?" Fastpass/Jimmy asked. He stared at it for a bit before flicking it away. 

"Paint." He muttered.

It clicked in my head that Kenny and I were definitely around paint today, and Kenny was actually flicking paint at Tweek earlier. So it makes sense if he had it his hair. 

I looked down, trying to process everything I just figured out. I knew most of these people well enough, even if I did just meet them today. I guess I should have known, it's not like they were hiding it all that well. 

It felt like the first time I got my period. I knew exactly what it was but I was still overcome with emotions. Nothing seemed real, but at that moment my whole perspective changed. 

I had the sudden urge to run away. I had no idea why. 

I felt the same way now, everything felt weird and fake. I didn't know what to do, so I just continued to sit there, like a trained dog.

Most of all I felt guilty. Guilty because of my emotions, and guilty because I had no idea where they were coming from, or why they were affecting me now. I couldn't logically understand it, maybe that's why it hurt so badly. Logic was a cornerstone of my life.

I hadn't realized it, but I began crying. The boys must have seen me, because Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny ran over and were all crowded around me. The rest of the boys stood around, most looking either worried, or at least somewhat confused.

"Y/n? Y/n are you okay?" Kyle asked, dropping his fake voice. I nodded, but the tears continued to fall down my face. 

"Give her some air!" Cartman ordered, extending his arms out to push them back. I started hyperventilating trying to calm myself down. I fell to my knees, clutching my head. 

"W-what's wrong with h-her?!" Tweek yelped. I continued to cry.

"I-I don't know....." I sobbed. His words echoed around my head, What was wrong with me? Why do I care so much? 

They all looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what to do with me. 

"Let's get her home..." Mysterion said quietly. "Shes had a rough night." The boys all quietly agreed.

"I'll take her. She needs proper protection at night." The coon said. They all seemed surprised, and I was too. From what I had seen of Cartman he wasn't the most "i'll protect you forever" kind of guy, even around his friends he has known for years. Why would he with me?

I didn't question it, and neither did anyone else. He placed a hand on my shoulder and lead me up the stairs. He put a hand over my eyes, his metal claws slightly digging into the side of my head. 

He lead me out into the nice feeling room, then out again into the cold. I slowly made my way down the stairs.

"Hurry up you're getting tears on my hands." He huffed. When I let out a sad sniffle at this he immediately apologized.

"Oh shit sorry. I forgot you were all emotionally broken and stuff." He said. I almost laughed.

We walked for a while, before he let go of face. The cold stung where his hand used to be, and the tears still falling down my cheeks didn't help.

"Soooo. Are you good?" He asked after a minute of uncomfortable silence. 

"I.... Don't know how to respond to that." I said honestly. 

He rolled his eyes. "I mean are you feeling better?" 

I turned to look at him. "Again, no idea."

He huffed at my repetitive responses. 

We walked along in more silence. He finally spoke again as I wiped my eyes. 

"What happened? Everything was fine and then you just started crying all of a sudden."

I shrugged. "Like I said i'm not sure. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Well it has to be something! Unless you're insane or something you shouldn't just be peeing your eye pants." 

I chuckled. "That's a weird way of saying it, but you're right." I started messing with my hair. "Can I talk about it with you?"

He glanced at me. "Yes I suppose." 

I took a shaky deep breath. "Okay...." I started. I stayed silent for a minute, trying to figure out where to begin.

"I guess at around the point I started crying, I just found out some....news, that was kinda upsetting." I said, trying not to reveal I figured out the most mysterious group in the towns biggest secret.

He munched on a bag of cheesy poofs he pulled out of...somewhere. "So the news made you sad. That's easy." He said confidently.

"No that's not it! The news itself wasn't sad at all! It was shocking, it was jaw dropping, it was a huge discovery, but it wasn't sad!" I cried, flailing my arms.

He glanced over at me as we turned the street corner. "Dude that's fucked up." 

I nodded, thankful he at least understood. "And then I just had a meltdown! Nothing makes sense!" I said, while covering my face with my hands.

He didn't say anything for a moment, then a crinkling near my ear made me uncover my face and glance at him.

He had his bag of cheesy poofs outstretched towards me. When I gave him a questioning look he shook right in my ear.

"I can't help you with any of that shit, but I can give you a single cheesy poof." He said, holding up one finger. I giggled as I dug into the bag.

"Just one?" I asked bumping him with my hips. He stumbled a bit, looking a little shocked, but he still came back with a snarky reply.

"Are you suicidal?"

"Not that I know of?"

He grinned and tossed a few cheesy poofs into the air, catching one in his mouth while the rest tumbled sadly onto the sidewalk.

"Well then you don't need more than one."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the sky. The sun was starting to set, so the sky was a light pink. The clouds were covered in a flurry of colors, like someone wanted to shade the cloud they painted but had no idea what the sky looked like.

"You're base was cool." I mumbled, still staring at the sky.

"Heh. Of course! Only the best for Coon and friends!" He said. I wasn't looking at him, but I could tell he must have been puffing out his chest.

I sighed. It was so peaceful out, my mind felt like it had been hung out to dry. Finally my senses were back in order.

I turned and looked at him. "Thanks for talking to me. I know it's not a normal part of your super hero duties to comfort random girls." I emphasized the random. 

He was pouring the remaining crumbs from his bag into his agape mouth. "Of course. We all care about you." He said, without thinking.

I put my hands on my hips and gave him a cocky grin. "Me? Some random girl you don't know." 

He seemed to catch his mistake. "Uh yeah! Coon and friends care about all of it's loyal fans!" He said, dramatically flipping his red cape. I giggled.

"Gee thanks. I sure feel special." I said, winking at him.

We finally arrived at my house. We chatted about random things along the way, but as I walked up my porch step I wanted to thank him once again.

I turned around. "Hey, thanks for helping me again. It really means a lot." He scoffed.

"The coon doesn't do that mushy stuff. I need to get back out to the base, stay safe and don't follow me." He said. I nodded and hugged him. He let out a soft gasp. I let go and made believe I didn't hear him, which I think he was happy about.

"Bye Coon. It was a pleasure." I said. He grinned and turned away, before sprinting down the street. For such a chubby boy he was pretty fast.

I let out a sigh, feeling much better than I had back at the Coon and friends hideout, which I could only assume was at Cartmans house.

Cartman didn't realize it, but he did have a way with comforting people. He was just so down to earth. He was far from chill, but also just a good dude all around.

I put my key into the door knob, and was about to turn it when it started to shake. Someone was opening from the inside. Thinking it was mom just trying to leave the house for something, I waited for her to open it herself.

The door creaked open as a familiar tall man with h/c hair stepped out in front of me. I stood frozen in shock. I leaned over to look behind him. A confused looking Kiyo and an angry looking mom sat on our small couch, looking at me.

He grinned, showing off his cigarette stained teeth. 

"Hey cupcake. It's nice to see yah again." He looked me over, like he always did.

"You've gained a couple pounds haven't you? Oh well, I suppose that's what the boys at the whore house you work fer like yah that way." He said. I began to shake again, but since I was out of tears to spill It was mostly out of anger.

I gulped and tried to stand as tall as I could, which was just barely up to his neck. 

"Hi dad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's old. Please don't judge.


	8. Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're watching the birth of a storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another song!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw3z_rbfrFQ

I slowly stepped back, keeping my eyes locked on my father. He looked at me with filthy thoughts in his soul. All the emotions I had just gotten over with Eric had come flooding back, only this time I knew why. I stepped back farther, instinctively knowing to put my foot farther down to reach the steps.

Without saying a word I turned myself around and fled. Kicking up bits of snow from out of our yard. I glanced back and saw my dad had closed the door, not even worried about me. My breathing got heavy as I ran in random directions. 

'Where can I go?!' I thought, my head began to hurt as my mind over flowed with emotions. 'Not home, not yet. I'm not ready.'

I continued running despite my lungs protests. 'Certainly not to the super hero base. I don't want to push my emotional problems on anybody. Especially the boys who just helped me out. Besides, then they'd realize I know where they live.'

I started to slow down near a bridge, one right on the edge of town. Gears turned in my head as I remembered the first time I crossed it. 

Our tiny beat up car held so much stuff, it teetered back and forth as it made its way up the bridges small curve. Kiyos face was pressed up against the glass, and he shouted out everything he saw. 

""""""""""'""""""""""'Flash Back""""""""""""""""""""""""""""''

"Sissy there's a Christmas tree! Except there's no decorations..." He yelled, poking his finger out the little slit at the top of the window. I glanced over to where he was pointing.

"That's called a pine tree buddy." I said, ruffling his hair. He turned to look at me.

"Like the spiky trees?" He asked, his big eyes full of questioning. I giggled and nodded. 

He looked confused, but also incredibly interested. He was silent for a moment before gasping loudly. 

"Christmas trees are pine trees?!" I laughed at his realization, and to my amazement so did mom. She had been silent for pretty much the whole car ride, and hearing her voice for the first time in hours was jarring. Kiyo must have realized what he did made her happy, as he began naming things he saw much more rapidly.

I couldn't blame her for being silent. After all, we were only moving across the country because of what happened to her. 

Leaning over and looking at her from behind her seat, I saw she still had the scratch along her cheek. We had left in such a hurry she didn't even bother putting a bandied over it. I could still hear my fathers harsh words echoing around my skull, but I still couldn't make any sense of them.

"What happens when she realizes it huh?! What happens when the little slut uses it against us?!" Mom had desperately tried to push me out of the room, but her tears made her shaky, and there was no way I was going to leave her alone with him.

The smack across her face was deafening, and I couldn't react until she fell to the floor with a shriek. When I ran to help her up I saw she had sliced her face a little on a nail half-way hammered into a nearby doorway. 

I had never yelled so hard in my life. And at the man for the longest time I saw as a father figure no less. 

I sighed and looked out the window, the small river we were passing over flowed violently, despite the fact it looked like it only thawed a day ago. 

I tried to think positively. I mean, this had been coming for a while. Everyday our family life seemed to get worse and worse, so I suppose this was for the best. 

'Still.' I thought. 'Why did this happen?' I stared over Kiyos shoulder at the pine tree. It was slowly getting smaller and smaller, until eventually It was out of my sight and out of my mind.

"""""""""""""Flash back over"""""""""""""""""'

I snapped back into reality, and realized I was in fact now near the underside of the bridge, looking up at the tall pine tree. I felt even more worthless, comparing myself to such a mighty thing. 

"Maybe.... I can fix it." I muttered to myself, sounding desperate. Maybe I can be as big and powerful as this tree.

"I just have to get as tall..." I mumbled, realizing just how insane I sounded. I didn't care though, the only thing I felt in that moment was the need to be higher up. 

I grabbed onto the trunk, my head pounding. I gripped into the bark with my sore fingers, and scrambled my way up until I could reach a few branches. The pine needles got in my face and into my clothes, poking me from every direction, but I continued up.

I kept going up, bending myself into any position to reach the next branch. I wasn't satisfied until I realized the next couple branches couldn't possibly support my weight, and would snap easily if I tried. I carefully sat down on the branch I ended on, and leaned back against the trunk.

I was surrounded by thinner branches covered in needles. Occasionally a pinecone would be hanging off the end of one, like a grape on a vine. I peered in front of me, out beyond the needles and into the sky. 

I was facing the town, and could see my house. It was actually one of the only houses around that area. I think that whole piece of land used to be a big shopping district or something, but now it was all abandoned and run down. I could only see one other house besides mine around there, but I had no idea if anybody even lived there.

If I reached my head up far enough I could even see the high school. I had been so happy there today, how had so much happened between then and now to make me feel like this? 

I felt an urge. A common urge for me, especially when i'm emotional like this. 'Well, why not?' I thought to myself, gripping the branch with my legs and straightening up. 

I tried to think of a song that represented how I felt, but my mind came up blank. Instead all I could think about was the lullaby mom used to sing me back when times were good. Dad thought it was creepy, so she made sure I knew every word just to tease him. 

I sighed. One of my happiest memories was mom singing that to me, and dad stomping in. He started singing it louder than mom, and they got into a singing match. I just sat on my bed, confused as they sang loudly at each other, trying not to laugh at how silly they were both being.

I began singing, the words flowing out of me like the water in the stream so far below.

"Hear my voice beneath the sea..."

"Sleeping now so peacefully."

"At the bottom of the sea.."

"Sleep for all eternity!"

As I started breathing the random "la's" in the chorus, which I now realized sounded like someone laughing in song, I could swear everything around me was silent. Even the wind seemed to stop its shaking of the tree. 

"Sailors live so restlessly..."

"Come with me, sleep peacefully."

"Listen to this sirens song,"

"Worry not for nothing's wrong."

I began to feel much more calm as I sang the "la's" again. My soul was in it now, as I pretended I was in front of an audience.

"Let my voice lead you this way."

"I will not lead you astray."

"Trust me as we reach the side.."

"Jumping out where men have died!"

The wind picked up now, as a few tears began pricking the corner of my eyes.

"Hear my voice beneath the sea..."

"Sleeping now so peacefully."

"At the bottom of the sea.."

"Sleep for all eternity!"

My tears were fully falling now, dripping off my cheeks and down to the ground below me. My singing became full of sobs, but I continued on, the wind picking up more and more.

"Let the ocean fill your lungs.."

"Struggle not, soon peace will come."

"Taking in your final breath..."

"Sink down to the oceans depths!"

I leaned forward, my legs were still strongly gripping the branch, but I lied on my stomach, my arms dangling loosely off the sides. I turned my head to the side, to continue singing at the town.

"I wish I could always be,"

"In the oceans arms, you see."

"He who'd wanted nothing more.."

"Sleeps now at the ocean floor."

I began to sing louder, perhaps to drown out the sound of branches swaying all around me. But the wind got even louder then.

"Ocean was your lovers name!"

"You had loved her all the same.."

"Now you'll always be together,"

"Sirens are so very clever."

"Hear my voice beneath the sea..."

"Sleeping now so peacefully."

"At the bottom of the sea.."

"Sleep for all eternity!"

I finished, panting. The wind died down once more, going back to its normal amount of power. I felt...better. Not great, and certainly not happy, but a little more stable than before.

I glanced down, and suddenly my common sense came rushing back to me as I realized just how high up I was. I held onto the branch with my arms now, and felt dizzy looking down at the ground. I was acutely aware just how terrible it would be if I fell.

Before I could figure out what to do, a voice came from below me, startling so much I almost fell.

"Excuse me? Who's up there?" A boys voice called. His voice was pretty high pitched, but the concern in his voice definitely over weighed it. 

I didn't really know how to respond. So I just said; "Uhh... Me."

I heard someone scoff, and I realized there were in fact two boys down there.

"That doesn't really help us." The other boy said rudely. Now it was my turn to scoff, as my urge to protect myself flared up.

"Be nice, I have literally no idea who you are." I said, trying my hardest to not fall off the branch I was so precariously perched on.

"Oh! Let us introduce ourselves then!" The voice called. There was silence for a moment as I heard shuffling from beneath me. Then some random dramatic song started playing, as I heard them run around, probably getting into various positions I couldn't see.

"My name is Professor Chaos!" The first voice said. He began laughing maniacally, which I'm sure would have been cooler if I could see whatever evil pose he put himself into.

The music picked up as he spoke again. "And this!...." He paused. "Is my trusty sidekick, General Disarray!" 

The other voice began laughing evilly, and he sounded even more childish than Professor Chaos. However I seriously digged his name, so I let it slide that he sounded like a 5 year old.

I sat up carefully and began clapping. The music stopped.

"Thank you, thank you." Professor Chaos said. "Now, who are you?" 

I leaned back against the tree. "I'm some girl in a tree." I responded coolly.

General Disarray groaned and I couldn't help but crack a smile at how impatient he was.

"Come on! We told you who we were!" He yelled. I rolled my eyes, enjoying his annoyance.

"Alright, alright. My name is Y/n." I said. 

"Really? That's a nice name!" Professor Chaos said. I could tell from his voice he was beaming. "But why are you so high up in a tree?" He continued.

"Oh.... You know." I said vaguely. General Disarray groaned again. 

"Listen lady, we heard your creepy music and wanted to make sure you were okay. But if you're going to be weird like this, then i'm gonna go." He said, and I heard his footsteps leading away from the tree. 

"Chaos," He called. "I'll see you back at the lair." 

"Bye General! I'll you you soon!" Professor Chaos shouted back. It was quiet for a moment, and I almost thought maybe Professor Chaos left without me noticing. But he soon spoke again.

"Um, why are you up there actually?" He asked. I decided it was time to try and get down. I lowered my left leg down to the nearest branch, and wobbled onto it while replying. 

"I don't know actually. I guess to sing?"

"Oh yeah!" He called. "Like he said, we heard your song! It sure was pretty, but also kinda spooky." 

I giggled as I lowered myself down onto another branch, this one at an odd angle. "Yeah, it's not exactly the most innocent song I suppose." 

"Heh, you can say that again! It got all windy as you started singing more loud, which scared us half to death." He laughed childishly.

I began to chuckle a little too, but it soon morphed into a panicked scream as I tried to put my foot down onto another branch, and discovered it was much less strong than I originally thought. It snapped, sending me plummeting down towards the earth.

I couldn't react in between being flung onto each spiky and hard branch. The wind got knocked out of me, and I was hit so many times in the stomach I felt like vomiting. 

I was finally fell to the ground with a hard and unceremonious thump. Before I could process what was happening in my dizzy state, I heard footsteps running towards my body laying face down in the snow. 

They flipped me over, and I could see a familiar face. They had big dark blue eyes and very light blond hair poking out of some kind of helmet looking thing. I looked up at them, trying to comprehend what just happened.

"....B-butters?....." I sputtered. It was the only thing I could really understand or say. His eyes widened and he dropped my head, it falling into the snow like a rock. Finally coming to my senses, I slowly leaned up. Butters was crouched next to me, his hands covering his mouth in shock.

"Y/n?! From science?!" He stuttered. I nodded, wincing as I realized a part of my neck was bleeding. He sat still in shock maybe trying to figure out what to do.

"Butters, you're Professor Chaos?" I asked, rubbing my aching neck. "My brother always talks about you, you're like his favorite villain." 

He tilted his head in confusion. "Really? Gee, that's awful nice of him. But how did you figure out it was me so fast?" 

I looked to the side and shrugged, feeling the pine needles stuck in my sweater start to fall out. "I guess i'm just expecting people like you to be people I already know." 

He looked even more confused. "Why's that? I tried awful hard on my disguise." 

I scoffed. "Yeah, i'm sure everyone in this franchise says that."

His eyes widened again in partial understanding. "Oh geez, what happened with you and the fellas? Your face looks kinda peeved at them." 

I leaned back against the tree trunk. "God, where do I even begin?" He glanced at me, and then to the bridge nearby. 

"Well maybe you'd feel more comfortable it you were out of the snow, I don't think that skirt is very water-proof." He said, pointing it out.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah that's probably a good idea." He reached down to me and helped me up, and assisted in walking me over to the bridge. As far as I could tell I didn't break anything, but my ankle was in a whole lot of pain.

He must have noticed. As we got under the bridge onto a little ledge covered in various graffiti, he carefully sat me down and stretched my leg out in front of me, and examined my ankle. I now noticed it was swelling slightly, and so did he.

He pulled out a roll of bandage, and began carefully wrapping it up like he knew exactly what to do.

"What are you a doctor?" I questioned him. He laughed and faced me.

"No, but I do have this." He pointed at his left eye, which I now noticed had a huge but distant scar running vertically along the middle of it. I gasped, and he just chuckled.

"Yeah, I got hit with a ninja star when I was a kid, and almost died because no one helped me. So..." He said, biting off the end of the strip and wrapping it carefully under my other bandages. "I started learning how to make sure nothing like that could happen again." 

I blushed slightly. "That's so sweet. I'm sorry about your eye though, that must have been so painful!" I shrieked. He chuckled again. 

"Yeah, especially when they tried to pull it out. But enough about me, We came over here to talk about you and your stuff!" He pointed out. I nodded.

"Okay... I guess i'll start with what happened last night..."I started.

I continued to tell him everything that had happened with me and the Coon and friends, from where and how I met them, to accidentally getting powers (kinda), to everything that led Mysterion to taking me back to their base, to their strange interrogation, and finally my big realization. Then everything that lead to me ending up angrily singing in a tree.

When I eventually stopped, having nothing more to explain, I discovered that during my story I had taken my mask out of my bag. I was holding it like it was glass, for some reason this mask was so important to me, and I hadn't even realized.

"...Wow. I can't believe all that really happened to you!" He said finally. I massaged my neck, trying to find words.

"Yeah. Today had been kinda rough." 

He grinned at me. "I'll say!"

I smiled at him, and put my head in my hands. "I just don't really know what to do. Everything has just been so complicated. I feel better talking to you, but I still don't know how to work everything out." 

He blushed slightly at my comment, and looked down at the ground, thinking. He suddenly grabbed my hand and held it in his own.

"You could be my partner!" He shouted excitedly. I rose a quizzical eyebrow at him, my mind immediately going to romantic partners.

"Uh, what? Explain please." I said, my face just ever so slightly hot.

"Yeah! We could work together, as a super villain we would be unstoppable! And.." He said. "You wouldn't have to come up with a huge backstory or anything, you can just say you're my evil friend!" 

I returned my face back to normal, feeling both relieved and intrigued. "Huh.... I actually like the sound of that..." 

He lit up. "Really?! Aww that's great!" He shouted. I saw something cross his mind, and his face quickly became a dark red. I leaned over, confused and concerned.

"Uhh... You good? You kinda look like a sunburned lobster." I said, waving my hand in front of his face to get his attention.

He snapped back into reality with a start. "Ah! I was just thinking.... M-maybe we could be boyfriend and girlfriend? Not in real life of course! Just to make it more believable!" He sputtered. I thought on it for a moment, realizing just how brave he must have been to even say that.

I shrugged. "Why not? I guess it does make sense." 

He beamed. "Wow really?! Cool!" He yelped. I giggled at how silly he was being. Suddenly I noticed the numbers on his lit up electric watch, and shot up, hurting my ankle.

"Oh! I should probably get home, I don't want my mom to be left alone with him." I muttered. He nodded understandingly, and I hobbled over and squeezed him. 

I turned and started to make my way out of there, before turning back one more time and waving flirtatiously.

"Bye sweetheart!~" I said playfully, making him giggle, but also earning a small blush barely noticeable compared to his last. 

"Bye Operaette!.....Darling!" He said after a minute of hesitation. I giggled and made my way out and back onto the street, feeling much more hopeful for the future than I did before. I found someone I could actually share all of my problems with, and someone who could be my partner in crime. A perfect combo.

I decided to screw my own pain and sprint home, hobbling back and forth over the bridge, just like our car only a week ago. 

My lungs full of new air and my head filled with hope, I made my way home, ready to face anything life threw at me. 

'Though.' I thought. 'I doubt anything can be as crazy and terrifying as dad.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. Y/n's origin.


	9. Wild night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night of fear and strange endings.

I squeezed Kiyos small body as we heard another crash come from the living room. Dad must have thrown something again. We were hidden underneath my bed, I draped my blanket in a way that blocked us from sight if someone entered my room. Kiyo was shaking. 

"sissy...." He whispered. "why is he so mad?" 

I almost started tearing up at how scared he sounded. "I don't know buddy." 

"why is he here?" 

I wrapped my thin jacket over him, trying to comfort him in any way I could. "I don't know that either. I thought he would never find us."

He was silent for a moment. 

"sissy?"

"....Yeah?"

"why are we hiding from daddy?" 

"Because if he comes in here we don't want him to... yell at us. We need sleep." I knew for certain I probably wasn't going to get any sleep, but it was important for Kiyo to rest.

"no. I mean, why did we move away from daddy?"

I sighed. "He became a very bad man. We had to get away from him before he got worse."

"Daddy's bad? But he was nice before!" He got slightly louder.

I gently hushed him. "I know, I know. But sometimes good people become bad."

"Why?"

I shrugged, burying my face into his soft black hair. "It just happens sometimes. But unfortunately dad is one of those people."

"...Sissy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is daddy so mean to you?"

"What do you mean?"

He paused and wiggled around to face me. "Why does he always yell at you?" 

I rose an eyebrow at this. "I think dad does that to everyone."

"No, no. I mean when he calls you evil and a mistake and stuff." 

"Oh! Uh.... I don't know really. I think he just doesn't like me and wants me to feel bad." 

Kiyo was silent for a minute. In the dark I couldn't really see his face, but I figured he was probably thinking it over. 

"....Sissy?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that?" He asked. He had been asking me this every time something noisy happened downstairs. I guess he just wanted to clearer picture of what was happening. But this time I hadn't heard anything from below besides their arguing.

"What do you mean?"

He shuffled a little. "That creak. I sounded like it came from outside."

I glanced around nervously, before I could ask him to explain he gripped the front of my tank top lightly. "Listen..."

I stayed quiet. The arguing seemed a lot more echoey, but I ignored it. I strained my ears, but nothing seemed different. The only thing I could hear was the rain pouring down outside.

"Kiyo, I can't-" I stopped dead. I had heard it. It was faint, but from the left of my bed I heard a creak, like someone lightly put their foot down on a squeaky board. Kiyo whimpered and held onto my collar more tightly. He heard it too.

I listened again, and sure enough there it was. It was coming from outside.

I put my finger up to my lips. Kiyo stopped whimpering, but still continued shaking like a leaf. I slowly pushed him to the far end of the bed, making him practically impossible to see even if someone pulled the covers away from over us. 

"....S-sissy?...." He stuttered. I shushed him again, and leaned over towards his ear. 

"I'm just going to see what's out there. If I get in trouble, I want you to run out and get mom and dad. They may not be the best people, but they are the only ones who can help us."

He nodded, and even in the faint light I saw his eyes glimmering with tears. I kissed his forehead and pulled myself silently to the other side, where I knew my backpack was sitting. I quickly jerked my hand out from under the bed to grab it, then quietly pulled it under.

I unzipped it, flinching at the noise it made. Hopefully my dads angry screams covered it from what ever was outside my window. I pulled out the history textbook I borrowed from the school. It was heavy and had a hard cover, so it was probably the best weapon I could get.

I paused and listened again to the rain. It happened again, and this time it sounded closer. 

'It must be trying to get inside..." I thought. A shiver went up my spine. I glanced back at Kiyo, but I couldn't even see his outline through the dark. I felt even more nervous now, even though I knew he was there.

I crawled out from under the bed, from the side opposite the window so the thing wouldn't see me. I squatted, my eyes just peeking above my bed sheet to the window. It felt like I was in a horror movie, the storm outside would occasionally give me booming thunder and lightning, making it feel like someone was going to pop out of nowhere and.....stab me or something.

Lightning flashed and I saw a figure outside my window. I gasped and crouched back down, hoping it didn't see me. I heard my windows broken lock shake, and I realized the thing was trying to open it.

I waited, frozen. I tried to steady my breathing and come up with a plan, but I was so panicked all I could think was to come running at them and hope for the best. 

I heard the window slowly slide up, and the soft thump of whoever it was stepping onto my shag carpet. My nerves went into over drive and I felt a rush of adrenaline. I jumped up and rushed at the figure, and slammed the book into the side of its face. It let out a pained sound and jumped into action, grabbing me by the wrists and making me drop my book onto the floor with a loud thunk.

Lightning flashed again and I saw my attacker clearly. 

Kenny. Or as i'm sure he wanted me to think, Mysterion. His eyes widened and he let go of me, and I stepped back in shock. 

Something felt wrong. I looked towards the door and realized the arguing had stopped, and everything downstairs was quiet. My stomach twisted as my dads loud footsteps started crashing up the stairs.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" He shouted, getting closer. I glanced back at Kenny, panicked.

I pushed him away from the window and shoved him under my bed. He glanced at the door then back to me, putting together what was happening. He stopped me.

"What are you-?" 

"SHH!" I interrupted him.

He let me push him under, he must have seen the fear in my eyes. I leaned over and quickly whispered under to Kiyo.

"Be quiet, everything's okay. He's a good person."

My door burst open, the hallway light momentarily blinded me. 

I quickly stood back up and faced him, trying my best to look inconspicuous. My father stood in the doorway, his large intimidating form blocking any way I could run out even if I was brave enough. He didn't speak.

I made eye contact with him, and immediately lowered my gaze. "H-hey dad...." I stuttered, staring at the bed sheet that was hiding my friends. 

"Did you hear me?" He asked. Even just his voice made me tense up.

"No dad."

He scoffed. "Of course. I asked what the hell that noise was."

I stared at my feet. "I accidentally dropped a book, i'm sorry."

He stepped closer to me. "What are you doing up so late anyway?" He asked gruffly

I unconsciously stepped back. "I heard you and mom arguing downstairs, I couldn't fall asleep so I figured I should try and study." I lied.

He narrowed his eyes. "Really? You expect me to believe that?"

I began to stutter out a response, but he interrupted me. "I'll bet you had someone over, didn't you? You little tramp, you probably wanted to blow some guy for money, am I right? Oh wait, you're "Pansexual" aren't you? You probably only say that so you can get more business, you low life whore." He spat.

I kept my head down. I read somewhere once that if someone's a bully you shouldn't give them the response they want, and if my dad isn't a bully I don't know who is.

"Well? Your mouth too sore from deep throating every guy in town to respond?"

I sighed. "No sir."

He didn't respond right away, so I glanced up at him. He was staring down at me again, but this time he was grinning. 

His smile made me sick to my stomach. I could only think of every dirty comment he made to me over the last several years, and just how touchy he had gotten with my mom ever since Monday. He made himself comfortable here quick. 

"What did you just call me?" He asked, still smiling. My eyes widened as I realized my mistake.

"I-I c-called you dad..." 

He took another step towards me, I couldn't back away anymore. "No, you called me sir. I heard you."

I pretended to act surprised. "Oh! Yeah I did, i'm sorry." I hoped that would be enough to calm him down.

He leaned over and put a hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Don't apologize baby, that name doesn't bother me~" He purred. 

I wanted to vomit. My own father, treating me like some object. I started to shake. "W-what do you mean?" 

He licked his lips. "I mean..." 

He leaned over next to my ear and grabbed my waist. "Why don't we have some special father-daughter time?" 

Suddenly there was a flash of purple and a resounding thud. My father went limp and fell to the floor, behind him stood a very angry looking Mysterion holding my now slightly-dented textbook. He dropped the book, panting. He stepped over my dads unconscious body and pulled me into a tight hug.

I realized throughout all of this I began crying, and now that I finally felt safe they were finally starting to slow. He let go of me and stared blankly at my father.

"What was that?" He asked seriously. I scratched the back of my neck, my legs felt weak.

"I.... I don't know. He's not usually this bad...." I said.

"Y/n, are you okay?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I just nodded. 

He gripped each side of my face and stared at me. "How long has this been going on?"

I tensed up and he realized I was uncomfortable, so he let go. "Sorry." He mumbled.

I sighed. "It's been happening a long time, but it's gotten worse ever since he found us." 

He blinked. "When was that?" 

"He showed up here Monday, so... four days ago." I said.

He squinted. "And he's been like this the whole time?"

I suddenly felt nervous again. "Yeah...." To distract myself I got down on the floor and crawled halfway under the bed. I scooped up Kiyo, who had stayed surprisingly silent throughout all of this.

He crouched down to my height, and absentmindedly ruffled Kiyos hair. "Why didn't you say anything? I could have helped you sooner." He breathed.

I chuckled. "That's sweet. But I couldn't tell anyone, I had no proof."

"Why does that matter? I'm sure someone would still believe you."

I shook my head. "I couldn't take any chances. I tried to tell people back in New York that he would get weird and touchy with my mom, even when she didn't want it. But without any proof all they could do was ask dad if it was true. He uh, ....didn't take that well."

He stayed silent for a moment, just staring at my fathers body crumpled on the floor. 

"Dirtbag...." He mumbled under his breath. I silently agreed.

We continued to sit on the floor, quietly. Even Kiyo didn't know what to say, and he usually was the one to start conversations in this family. My mom came up the stairs, taking small steps towards my room. In all the commotion I forgot she was down there.

"What's happened here?" She asked. She was as quiet as a church mouse, and she looked jumpy. 

Kiyo finally seem to take in everything that just happened, and climbed out of my arms and ran to mom crying. He clung to her legs like a koala to a tree, all the while sobbing like he had just witnessed a murder.

I decided to speak up. "Dad came up here, and started.... doing things. My friend Mysterion came in the window and hit him with my textbook." I said.

Mom looked to me, then to Mysterion. Then to my dads form on the floor. She stayed quiet for a moment, and I could really notice just how tired she looked. Her wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and the single grey hairs dangling from her head struck me as odd, for some reason I had never noticed them before.

She let out a sigh, and pinched the bridge or her nose. ".....Mysterion was it? You're one of those heroes aren't you?" 

Mysterion nodded, and I couldn't help but notice a flash of confusion in his eyes. 

She began to sway back and forth, trying to ease Kiyo. "And Y/n sweetie you said he did something to you?" She asked. 

I nodded too, grateful she didn't need me to explain further, but still wondering where she was going with this.

She turned back to Mysterion. "So technically, you were just doing your job. You were just protecting my little girl, right?"

I perked up, finally understanding what she was implying. Mysterion seemed to as well. 

"That's right. I was just doing my job."

My mom smiled. "So, technically speaking, you wouldn't get in trouble with the police if I were to report him, would you?"

He nodded. Mom nodded back, and whipped out her flip phone. She turned away from us and dialed 911.

"Hello? Police? Yes, my ex husband just tried to assault my daughter."

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Time skip

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We all stood in my houses front doorway, watching the paramedics put my father into their ambulance that was parked on our front yard. A ginger police officer came walking up to us, flipping through some random papers.

"Okay, it appears your ex husband will be alright, he's just going to be unconscious for a little while. But we did find some very interesting information on him while going through his record. Did you know he once was caught selling cocaine to people in New York city?"

My mom shook her head. "No, never! I can't believe I married such a bad man!"

The officer shuffled his papers. "Well you don't have to worry about him anymore ma'am, we found this in his coat. It appears he didn't learn from his past mistakes, so he's going to jail for a long time." He held out a small plastic baggie of an unfamiliar white powder, which I could only assume was cocaine.

My mom sighed happily. "That's a relief. At least now I know he can't hurt my children anymore." 

"Yes indeed. That's the best part of my job, getting scum like him off the streets." He checked his watch. "Well it's getting late, you folks can rest easy now."

My mom wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you officer." 

He smiled and tipped his hat. "You all have a good night now."

My mom waved at him as everyone left, than shut the door. She immediately leaned against the door and slid down onto the floor tiredly.

"Oh my god that was so stress full...." She groaned. She was acting like I was back when I first confronted PC principal. It happened less than a week ago, but it felt as if years had passed.

"Why Mrs. L/n?" Mysterion asked. 

Mom suddenly looked kind of embarrassed. "You see.... back when Y/n was still a baby the only way we could come by money was to sell.... that. The cocaine, I mean. We never wanted to do it, but at that point it's all we could do." She said.

I stared at mom in awe. "Mom really? What? How did I never hear about this?????" I prodded her.

"Your father and I were ashamed. It was probably the second worst thing we ever did for money." She paused. "In fact, your father wasn't even the one caught. It was me, he just took the fall." She sighed, reminiscing.

"If he used to be like that, how did it get like this?" Mysterion asked, gesturing outside. I couldn't help but notice just how interested in her story he was. Kenny was slipping through Mysterions dark mask.

"Oh, lots of things I suppose. We did some things together we didn't agree with, which I think put him under some stress. Eventually all of that just turned him rotten."

We all pondered on that for a minute, before mom spoke again. "Oh i'm sorry. I suppose that was a little to much for you two."

I giggled. "Hey, at least Kiyo was asleep for it. Now you won't have to explain what cocaine is to him."

Kiyo lifted his head off moms shoulder he had been resting on. "I'm not sleeping!"

Me and mom just stared at his defiant face, then burst out laughing. 

Once we calmed down, I glanced over at Mysterion, who to my surprise was staring at me and blushing. I turned away and continued laughing, I didn't want to embarrass him. 

My mom glanced at the outside clock on her phone, and her eyes widened. 

"Jeez it really is late.... You two should get to bed." She said, pointing to me and Mysterion. 

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, I don't think i'm gonna be able to fall asleep after what happened. Can I just stay up and watch movies?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not, it's not like we have anything going on tomorrow. Just don't make it a habit, I don't want your father to hurt you even while he's behind bars." She said, while she began to walk back upstairs. 

"Thanks mama, I love you."

"I love you too sweetie, and Mysterion?"

He turned to look at her. "Yes ma'am?"

She smiled warmly. "I love you as well, thank you for everything dear."

And with that she disappeared upstairs, leaving Mysterion a confused mess. I giggled as he continued to stare at where she was standing, battling with a smile that tugged the edges of his lips. "What? Never had a parent love ya? As far as I know your backstory doesn't involve dead parents."

He rolled his eyes and turned to me, composing himself. "Of course not. I just- uh, ....... So are you gonna be okay here all by yourself?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not all by myself, mom and Kiyo are still here!" I pointed out. He grimaced.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

I scratched the back of my neck again. "I guess I will get kinda lonely.... but don't worry about it. It's not like I could ask you to stay."

He tensed up for a moment, and he had a look of betrayal on his face, but it soon morphed back to his normal stern expression, with just a hint of realization in his blue eyes.

"Of course, I have important hero things to do. But.... If you did want someone to hang out with right now, who would it be?" He asked.

I tilted my head, confused but still willing to answer. "Oh definitely my friends from school, Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny, right now I would love to hang out with them."

He glanced around, a faint blush on his face. "O-oh. Why them?"

I shrugged, momentarily forgetting I was talking to Kenny. "They're all nice to me in different way, I have other friends from school, but they seem to get me the best. And I love them for that."

He cleared his throat and turned away from me."I see. Well, I don't know why I asked that, so I guess i'll just be on my way." He said quickly. 

I nodded at him. "Okay, do you prefer jumping out of a window into the night or leaving through the door like a regular person?"

He rolled his eyes at me again, but this time I saw a smile briefly cross his face. "Very funny. I'm going."

He left, softly closing the door behind him. I sighed and pulled a box out from under out small stand that held our T.V., and dug through it until I found my pack of Disney princess dvd's. I grinned and popped the first one I saw in, Mulan.

I turned off the lights and put blankets down on the floor to get comfy, and began to watch. 

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Small Time skip

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I was in the middle of singing along to "Reflections", and feeling those good nostalgic feels, when suddenly my door burst open, and when the dust settled I saw none other than my friends standing in the doorway.

Cartman ran inside immediately. "Surprise sleepover!" He yelled. I giggled as he flopped over on our couch.

"Oh fuck yes! Mulan is so fucking sweet dude." He said, grabbing a fistful of popcorn I made and shoving it into his mouth. I laughed as the other three awkwardly followed him, making them selves comfortable around me.

Eric was lying on his side on the couch behind me, Stan sat hunched on the next to me, just gently leaning on my arm. Kyle was sitting criss-cross on my other side, his hands in his lap. And Kenny was laying straight in front of me, his head on my lap. It was very cozy.

While we watched I looked at all of them, who each seemed to have a different state of happiness on their face. 

I realized exactly what Kenny had done, but it didn't make it any less nice. I still figured i'd make this a little hard for them "So.... how exactly did you guys find out where I live?"

Realization and fear crossed their eyes, but Cartman answered me. "Kenny told us."

I looked down at Kenny in amusement to see his excuse. 

For a moment he didn't say anything, but he untensed his muscles and calmly just said, "You're my neighbor. I live in that other house down there." He cocked his thumb outside.

The other house, the one in the middle of all that rubble. I brightened up. "Wow what a coincidence huh?"

He grinned at me. "I know, it's like this was all planned out by some author, right?"

I giggled and rose an eyebrow. "That's incredibly specific, but yeah that's a great analogy." 

I settled back in, and continued to watch Mulan. We all hummed the different music in the sound track, and sang loudly once "I'll make a man out of you" came on.

My mom came storming down the upstairs hallway, and whisper-yelled at us. 

"Darlings, I know i'm supposed to be supportive and stuff, but I want to sleep. And If I don't fall asleep in the next hour, you're all gonna fall asleep for much, much longer." She walked away.

Stan turned to look at me. "Is your mom always so vaguely threatening?" 

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Only when she's sleepy."

For the rest of the night we watched a Disney princess movie marathon, with me quietly singing along to each one. Eventually I found myself feeling comfortable enough to sleep, and began dozing off.

For the first time in awhile, my last thought before falling asleep was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mysterion: I don't kill. 
> 
> Dad: :)
> 
> Mysterion: I kill.


	10. Team Craig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they show their faces.

I walked alone through the school hallways, humming "Count on me" by Bruno Mars. It was a little old, but the song was sweet and catchy as heck. It's a little rare to find a good song about friendship, so I can't help but love this one. 

I skipped a little remembering what Mr. Blackwell said during drama. He promised everyone that after some deep thought he was going to announce who got what part. I know it's not that big of a deal since it's just for understudies, but I couldn't help still get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of performing on stage again.

I stopped off to the side of the hallway, and checked over my crumpled scheduled again. I was getting better at not needing to use it, but I still had to sometimes.

"Y/n!!!" I heard someone shout from behind me. I turned around, trying not to bump into everyone walking around me.

'WHUMPH'

However those hopes were thrown out the window as Kenny came speeding at me, diving headfirst into my stomach to tackle hug me. I fell to the ground, dropping my books and papers all around me, but still laughing once I realized it was just my friends.

People around us gave me some weird stares, but I didn't care. Kenny squeezed me, and I made an over exaggerated choking sound. He let me go and bounced up onto his feet, looking excited about something.

"What's up with him?" I said, leaning over and looking behind him to Eric, Stan and Kyle. They laughed.

"We're going camping." Stan said simply, pushing his hands into his pockets. 

Kyle held out a hand, and I used it to lift myself up. I looked at the four of them amused.

"Ooh wow. So exciting." I said sarcastically. Cartman gasped, and I glanced over at him.

"What does that mean? Camping is fucking sick!" He shouted at me. 

I rose an eyebrow at him. "Really? I never thought of you as an outdoors kind of guy Cartman."

He scoffed. "Of course I am, how do you think I survived this if I wasn't always exploring the wilderness?" He leaned down and pulled up his pant leg, revealing a very tame looking spider bite near his ankle. He grinned, as if he was showing off a scar he got in battle.

"Dude you didn't even get that outside, you just left your window open and a spider crawled in." Kyle said, crossing his arms.

"Nuh uh! It was a huge tarantula I just barely escaped Kyle!" He huffed. 

They continued bickering, I glanced over at Stan who just shrugged at me. He held out the bag of Cheesy-poofs he was eating, and I happily took some while watching their argument unfold. Kenny, who was now leaning down and resting his head on my shoulder, tried to grab the bag away from him. Stan mouthed "Screw you" to him, making Kenny huff.

I silently chose one of the smaller cheese poofs I had in my hand, and held it out in front of his face. Kenny immediately opened his mouth, and I pushed it in. He wrapped his arms around me in thanks, and crunched down into it. All the while our eyes were still glued to the two boys shouting match.

I decided to interrupt them, as Cartmans arguments were just getting repetitive and were obviously lies he made up to look cool. "Like I was saying, It just surprises me you guys enjoy something like camping. I wouldn't expect you four to like singing around a campfire and sleeping in tents away from technology."

Cartman grinned, and put his hands in his jacket pockets. "Of course, camping is amazing. Especially with Kennys uncle, he lets us do whatever we want, and no one's around to stop us."

I smirked, and put a hand on my hip. "I hate to say it dude, but nothing good comes to mind when I think of you all alone in a forest with no restraint." 

Cartman looked offended, but the other boys laughed. "Yeah," Kenny said. "That's why we're here. We all make sure Cartman doesn't destroy all of the world again."

"Again?"

The boys all froze for a second, and it clicked in my mind that he was referring to the time Coon summoned Cthulhu. I patiently waited for them to come up with an excuse, familiar with this process. 

Stan chuckled. "Yeah, Cartman can be really irresponsible sometimes. Once in fifth grade he tried to escape his problems by going to mars." He said, changing the subject slightly.

I looked over at Cartman in amusement. "So how'd that work out?" He ignored me and pointed at Stan accusingly. 

"First, I wasn't running away from my problems. I would have actually solved all of them, it's not my fault no one could figure out space travel." 

"And two! At least I actually faced my problems head on Stan. You just wallow in your own sadness like an asshole!" 

I winced. "Jesus Eric give him a break." 

Stan shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it Y/n, that's just how guy friendships work."

Kenny stood besides him. "Yeah, just a ton of insults and hate."

I was mortified. I looked over at Kyle to see if he agreed with them. He met my gaze and scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. 

"Sorry Y/n, that's just how it works. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but we've gotten through years of being friends like this, so it has to work somehow right?" He said, offering me an unsure smile.

"No!" I practically shouted. "That's terrible! Just..... No!" 

They looked at me, surprised at my outburst. I sighed and put on hand on my hip, while pointing at all of them sternly. "On this trip, I want all of you to be nice to each other, or so help me...!"

They glanced at each other. Cartman just scoffed. "Are you threatening us? What could you possibly do?"

I stepped so close to Cartman I could smell his coat, wet from the melted snow. "I know where you keep your snacks Eric." I said, staring him in the eyes. 

They widened, but he still scoffed again and crossed his arms in front of him. "What snacks?"

I clicked my tongue. "You know what I mean Eric." I muttered. "The ones in your room, the ones you think no one knows about."

He stepped back, looking unnerved. "How do you...?!"

I interrupted him, and leaned in closer once more. "You say their just for emergency, but you eat them all the time don't you?" I glanced at my nails, enjoying his reaction. "Eric, have you ever smelt burning sugar? It's quiet an interesting scent."

He looked shocked. "You wouldn't......"

I looked up from my cuticles back to his disgruntled face. "Wouldn't I?" I said smoothly. Just from the look on his face I knew I had won, even before he admitted it.

"Okay, okay! We'll be nice to each other, stop being a psycho!" He said, eyeing me nervously. 

I stood up straight once more and grinned. "Thank you!" I sang.

Just then the bell for lunch rang. Cartman backed away from me slowly, then speed walked away, occasionally glancing back at me. 

After watching him shuffle down the hallway like that, I turned to the other boys. 

"Where's he going? We have lunch right now." 

Kenny rose an eyebrow, then facepalmed after realizing something. Stan spoke first however "He's going to his locker to get his stuff."

"Why does he need his stuff for lunch? Did he bring his own or something?" I asked.

Stan shifted uncomfortably. "No, he's leaving."

I saw Stan wasn't telling me something. "Leaving to go where?"

"The camping trip." Kenny interrupted him.

I stopped processing what he just said. "Wait, you guys are going right now? Like right this moment?"

"Yeeaaah....." Stan said, drawing it out. 

"Oh no, who will I sit with at lunch?" 

"Aren't you friends with the girls? I'm sure they'd let you sit with them." Kenny offered.

"No, they're in the other lunch period. You're pretty much the only guys I can call my friends in there." I said glumly.

Kenny walked over to me and gripped my shoulders, making the most serious face I had even seen him make (besides Mysterions constant scowl). 

"Y/n..." He said in a low dramatic voice. He was trying to make me laugh, it was working. "....I'm sorry we have failed you.... it will forever be a stain on the carpet that is our relationship...."

"Smooth."

He ignored me. ".... however i'm afraid that our journey can not be stopped, everything has already been set into motion..... I'm so sorry...." 

I clasped my hands together. "Alright Kenny you've convinced me. But I still have no idea where i'm gonna sit."

His face returned to normal. "I don't know. You're the nice one in our friend group, you'll be able to make some new friends easy."

I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I thought the nice one was Kyle." I said, pointing my thumb over to him. Kyle was slightly pink, but still laughed with us. Kenny looked back to me.

"Well, you're the nice girl in our friend group."

"Who says i'm a girl?"

They looked at me quizzically. "Didn't you....?"

I crossed my arms, enjoying this conversation. "I never once called myself a girl."

They glanced at each other. "Y/n i'm pretty sure you are in fact a female." Stan said.

"What proof do you have?" 

"Your tits?"

"Kenny!" Kyle said.

I shook my head. "Those don't prove anything."

"Y/n you've definitely called yourself a her before."

I started laughing. "And?"

They all groaned. Kyle just looked at me."Do you want to be called a he?"

I shrugged. "Nah, I guess i'm alright the way I am."

The boys laughed. And we began walking after Cartman. 

"Why are you coming with us? Don't you have lunch?" Stan asked me. I shrugged.

"Yeah, but i'm gonna put it off for as long as I can." 

Stan smiled, and I saw him think about something. He turned back to me after a second. "By the way, what was that thing with Cartman before? We didn't even know he had snacks in his room." 

I grinned proudly. "Oh that? I just guessed."

They all turned their heads. "Wait really?" Kyle asked me. I grinned even more.

"Yup, it was actually really easy."

"How did you know it was gonna work?" Kenny asked.

"I didn't."

"Well then why'd you try it?"

I shrugged again. "Because doesn't that sound exactly like what Cartman would have in his room? Secret snacks are the most on brand thing I can think of for him.

They all looked at me with shock scrawled on their faces. "Jesus Y/n, you sure know him really well." Stan said.

"Yeah, I know all of you all lot better than you think."

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Small Time skip

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I waved goodbye to them, watching them leave. They were all crammed in the back of Kenny's uncles truck, and they waved back at me until I couldn't see them anymore, except Cartman, he made faces at me through his window. I responded by waving my finger at him, and curling my lips into an evil smile. He stopped it right away.

I walked back into the school, and sighed. The hallways were empty, and I could hear the chatter of kids in the cafeteria.

I walked as slowly as I could to the lunch room, even though I could smell we were having turkey a la king that day, one of the few lunches I actually enjoyed here. 

'Maybe I can just take my tray to the bathroom and eat in there, like all those sad girls in movies.' I found myself thinking. 'I'm sure it's not that terrible, I can make the best of it.'

I gasped and slapped my face with both hands, something I usually did when I disagreed with myself.

"No!" I muttered. 'I will not sink that low! I just have to be brave...'

I finally arrived to the cafeteria, everybody was in their usual spots. Before I even got in line I scanned every table, to maybe find someone I knew well enough to sit with. 

My first thought was Butters, since I was technically his alter egos fake girlfriend. I sat with him on the bleachers during gym when he thought he sprained his ankle. And we just talked the whole time. At the end he told me it stopped hurting five minutes after he sat down, he just wanted to keep talking. 

I glanced around the room for him, but no such luck. He must have been in the other lunch. 

'Great.' I thought. 'Now i'll actually have to try.'

My second thought was maybe Mike, the "Vampire" boy I met during my audition, since we had been becoming closer lately during drama, but he was surrounded by his usual gang of vamp kids, and I didn't want to disturb their little group. So I decided against even asking him.

Then I saw the goth table near the open windows on the side of the room, which made me forget about my hunt for friends for a moment. I walked over to them, confusion visible on my face.

"Wait, since when do you guys eat now? I thought you had lunch the other period." I said, approaching them. They turned to me, and Pete responded.

"No, we've always had this period." He said, flipping his hair.

"Yeah, we just ate outside before. But then the terrorist guidance counselor came and told us we had to eat inside from now on." Henrietta sighed, exhaling smoke all around her. I was suddenly thankful for the open windows, even if they made everything frigid.

I coughed into my hands. "Guys I hate to ask, but can you please stop smoking? It's really tearing up my lungs." And theirs for that matter. 

Micheal blew some smoke upwards, creating a airy ring. "No. We opened a window, that's all we're gonna do for you." 

I stared up at the ring until it disappeared into the cloud of smoke above. "I'd be much more impressed if I wasn't dying." I said while fanning it out the window. 

Micheal flicked some of the ash of his cigarette onto the floor, near Firkle. I had to stop myself from scooping him up and setting him far away from it. Besides, even if he was small he was a middle schooler, and I doubt he would let me touch him, let alone pick him up.

I sighed. "Well if I can't stop you from smoking, can you at least put your ashes somewhere other than the floor? It's a fire hazard."

This time it was Firkle who spoke up. "Why should we do anything for you? If this whole school goes up in flames then so be it." 

I held back my comments about how I could technically be his babysitter, and just set my purse down on their table and rummaged through it, looking for something suitable for their needs. While I searched I spoke back.

"Well, If the school burns down, you'd die right?"

"Yeah." They all said in chorus. 

I nodded. "Okay, and you'd all be alright with that?"

More "yeahs". I dug deeper into my bag, my fingers hitting something plastic. 

"Why's that?"

"Because there's no point in life, and the sooner we get to hell the better." Henrietta said.

"But if that's the case, why don't you just kill yourself right now?" I asked.

Pete spoke again. "Because we have to make life harder for the conformists, we have to forever remind them what they are doing wrong."

I beamed. "Exactly!" I said, whipping out a small-ish pink plastic pencil box from inside the depths of my bag. It was cracked and empty, but the the top part was still intact.

They all stared at me curiously as I ripped the top part from the bottom, and set it on their table victoriously. I grinned and faced them again.

"If you all set this place on fire, then you will die along with everybody else in here. Then who will show the world what they're doing wrong? There's no other goths at this school, but you know who everybody thinks is goth? The vamp kids. Then while you are all burning in hell, people will forever call vamp kids goth, and there will be nobody to correct them."

They all blinked and glanced at each other. I kept my smile plastered on my face as I pushed the pencil box lid into the center of the table. Micheal stared at it for a second, before he leaned over and tapped his cigarette on the edge, letting the loose ash fall into it.

He glanced back at me. "We'll use it. Just get outta here, those bright colors are raping my retinas." 

I saluted him. "Harshly put, but understood. Thank you!" I sang, skipping away from them.

As I walked from their table to to lunch line I noticed I was getting a bunch of stares from around the cafeteria. I guess they weren't used to seeing someone as.... cheerful looking as me around the goth kids. 

I looked down at my outfit I had chosen. I wasn't anything special, I was wearing moms sweater (which we now basically just shared) again and another skirt. But it did look happy, which was what I was going for. I'm not sure why I always try to keep joyful colors in with my wardrobe, especially since I don't usually have any kind of selection in the bargain bin at Walmart, but I always try my best to incorporate them.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I stepped into the dwindling line. The lunch lady behind the counter looked to me and grinned. I smiled back.

"Hey Gladys, hows life?"

She smiled so wide I could see the gaps in her teeth. "Y/n! How vonderful it is to see you again. Life is treating me vell, thank you." 

"Good, good. How are the little ones?" 

She dug her ladle into the turkey and gravy. "The grand-babiez? Oh they are the same as always, they are all up and valking now, but none have said a vord yet."

I spoke as she poured the mixture onto my tray. "Well they will soon enough, they can't last their whole lives not speaking can they?" 

She threw her head back in laughter, and waved her gloved finger at me. "I vouldn't be too sure my friend, I knew man back in the old country, he never spoke vonce his whole life! His mama said he managed to not make a sound his whole childhood, and just kept that way into adulthood."

I laughed. "Well not all three of them can be like that. I think it's safe to say they'll talk eventually." 

She nodded and handed me my tray. "You have good day now, and eat up for goodness sake! You're as thin as a candles wick." She said, disapprovingly. 

I laughed again. "I'll do my best, you have a nice day." I waved.

I strolled up to the cash register, tray in hand. I was behind two people, and the kid up front seemed to be having trouble counting his money. Directly in front of me was Clyde, the boy in a few of my classes and the one and only Mosquito. I also served him almost every night in raisins, but he didn't know that with all the makeup caked on my face.

He was staring behind me at Gladys, who was now busy serving another kid. 

"I didn't know she spoke..." He whispered to himself.

I followed his gaze. "Who Gladys? Oh yeah she's great, doesn't she talk to you?"

He perked up, and finally seemed to realize I was standing there. He got into a very awkward looking position, a hand on his hip and one under his chin, along with a smirk that would make Edward from Twilight jealous. "No, but you can talk to me anytime~" 

I snorted. "Real smooth, i'm falling head over heels in love with you already."

He threw his arms up in the air dramatically. "Finally! I see you every day in drama, but you never talk to me. You're always with Kenny and Tweek."

I rose an eyebrow. "Are you implying your presence alone should make me fall in love with you?"

"That's the intended consequence yeah." He said, jokingly.

I laughed again, which seemed to make him happy. "Seriously though, I didn't know you were in drama with me. What part do you have?"

He pretended to check his nails. "Oh just a small part off to the side, no one would ever notice me if they didn't read the billing."

"And what part's that?"

I could see sparkles in his eyes while I asked it, and I could tell he was super eager to tell me. "Oh you probably never even heard of him, his name is ...Alexander...." Even as he pretended to be uninterested I saw him constantly look up from his nails to me, just to check my reaction. It was kinda cute, how excited he was.

My eyes widened, still surprised by what he said. "No way! You're Hamilton?! How have I not seen you rehearse yet?" 

He grinned, happy with my reaction. "We do, but we only do it backstage where it's all echoey, so we can perfect our singing."

I made a face at that, Clyde must have noticed because he asked what's wrong. 

"I've just never heard of anyone rehearsing a musical like that before, and I used to be in show biz."

He shrugged. "It wasn't my idea, Mr. Blackwell said we had to do it like that so we can be 100% prepared for anything."

I chuckled. "I love that guy, he's always watching out for us."

The kid in front of us finally figured out everything and finished, and Clyde handed the lady his money. Before he turned away, he walked to the ice-cream freezer and dug through it, pulling out a chocolate ice-cream sandwich. He glanced over at me. 

"What do you want? It's all ¢50, so you can get whatever."

I jumped, surprised at the sudden gesture of kindness. "Oh that's okay! I don't need anything!" I squeaked.

He turned back to face me again. "It's alright, I got an extra two quarters so just tell me what you want..."

"No really it's fine!" I said, getting more flustered by the second.

He was getting confused now. "Are you sure? There's chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, some fruit Popsicles, some ice-cream sandwiches...."

"Really i'm okay! Thank you!"

He made a 'I'm incredibly confused but I guess willing to go along with it' face, and turned back to the cashier. 

"Just put it on my account."

I almost sighed out loud in relief. Clyde waved me over to him, and as soon as I paid I walked over to wear he was standing. 

"Alright, if you won't accept my frozen treats, can you at least give me the pleasure of sitting with us?" 

I pointed my hand into a finger gun. "That my friend is an offer I can accept." 

He smiled his big goofy smile and took my hand, leading me to his table. "Hey Token scoot over, we have a guest!" He called.

I was met by three familiar faces, Craig, Tweek, Token, and of course, Clyde was there too, all carrying different degrees of confusion on them. I smiled and awkwardly waved. 

Clyde practically dragged me to my seat, and immediately put an arm over my shoulder. I laughed nervously, as Craig had been staring at me for an entire ten seconds, and even just that made me want to self destruct. Clyde seemed to realize my fear, as he started introducing me to the group.

"As you all know, this is Y/n. The girl who can have a full conversation with the goth kids and not die!" He said, presenting me like I was some grand marvel. 

I giggled a little. "Oh is that what i'm known for around here?"

"Y-yeah, Y/n. You c-can just walk up to them without them yelling at you, it's a-amazing." Tweek said, jittery as usual. Probably from the two empty coffee cups that were poking out of his bag. 

"Guys it's really not that hard. They're people too you know."

"Wise words of wisdom there! We expect nothing less from such a legend." Clyde said, elbowing me in the ribs like I was an old friend. I appreciated his kindness, so I laughed for real and squirmed away.

"Hey man be nice, i'm fragile!" 

This got a soft chuckle out of Token, who was sitting on the other side of me. "Hi Fragile, i'm Token." 

I immediately stopped laughing and turned to face him, trying to keep the most serious expression on my face (and failing). 

"Listen buddy, i'm the one who makes dad jokes around here. So you either stop this tomfoolery or i'm gonna have to give you a henway." I threatened.

"W-what's a henway?" Tweek interjected, twitching like always. I felt my lips curl into a sinister smile as I caught my prey, I slammed my hand down on the table, and made direct eye contact with him.

"Oh about ten pounds." I said, without skipping a beat. 

The entire table was quiet. I sat, knowing they could do nothing to take back the joke. I sat in my own victory, that is until Craig stood up and walked away. 

Only then did the table start laughing. Clyde fell off his part of the bench, and only still had his legs holding onto it. He lied down on the dirty cafeteria floor, still cracking up. He reached up towards the ceiling.

"Craig no.... don't go.....!" He said, still laughing hysterically. While that madness unfurled, I leaned over and looked at Token, and saw he was laughing too, but he had his head in his arms. He slowly looked up, looked at me, then began laughing again, showing off his pearly white teeth. It was exhilarating. 

Tweek was smiling slightly, but he mostly looked worried over Craig. I reached into my bag and pulled out some chapstick. I applied it, then rested my head on my open palm. I looked at him, like everything around me wasn't happening.

"So how's your day been?" 

He twitched again, sort of clenching up half of his face. "Gah! It was O-okay!"

I picked at a lint ball stuck to the sleeve of my shirt. "Good, did you drink enough water?"

He looked confused but still responded. "I drank a l-lot of C-coffee!" 

I scowled. "Tweek you need more than just coffee! I want you to drink at least a whole cup of pure water a day, alright?"

He looked down, and his eyes got wide. I recognized it as one of his twitches, one he did when he felt ashamed or pressured. I gave his hand a squeeze.

He looked up at me, and I smiled. His eyes went back to normal, and I felt his hand muscles un-tense. He gave me a grateful smile.

"Thanks Y/n, you're good at emotional stuff..." He said.

I brightened. "Hey you didn't stutter at all when you said that!"

"W-w-what-t?" 

I mentally face palmed. "Sorry, forgot I wasn't supposed to mention it."

He smiled again, as calm as he could. "I-it's okay! I didn't even realize, I was too focused on C-Craig..." 

I looked over my shoulder, he was sitting on the other side of the room, eating his food. He either scared off a group of random people by just approaching them, or he managed to find a whole empty table, because he was alone. Since I had just scanned the crowded room a few minutes ago, i'm going with option A.

"Oh yeah.... sorry. I didn't think my joke would make him..... give up on life like that....." 

"I-is that a j-joke?"

I shrugged. "It should be a joke," I looked over my shoulder once more at his stoic resting place. "But...... look at him." 

He laughed a little. "D-don't worry. He seems very m-monotone and cold hearted, but he's really an over dramatic b-baby."

I was shocked at the rough words coming out of his mouth. "Tweek! Since when are you so mean?"

"T-that's not m-mean!" He spluttered out, embarrassed. "It's t-the truth!" I squeezed his hand again, seeing he was getting worked up.

"Don't worry, I know you're not mean."

He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. "T-thanks Y/n." He paused a moment. "...L-like I w-was saying, Craigs problem is that he c-can't really underst-stand his emotions s-sometimes. But when he feels l-like it, he can be as extroverted as C-Clyde. In his own way."

I sat and stared in awe of this twitchy bean. He really just exposed Craig like that to me, without even meaning to. He bopped his head around and tugged at his collar, his confusion/panic twitch. 

"W-what?! D-did I s-say something wrong?!" 

I squeezed his hand once more. "Nah Tweek, you didn't do anything."

I stood up, almost stepping on Clydes hair still spread out on the ground. "I'm gonna go talk to him." I said, stepping around Clydes head, careful to make sure he couldn't see up my skirt. Thankfully Clyde covered his eyes anyways, so at least I didn't have to worry about him being a creep.

I walked as calmly as I could to where Craig was sitting, noticing once more that a lot of peoples eyes were on me. I could only guess why.

As I reached his table, I slid onto the bench opposite of him. I sat with my hands on my lap, unsure of what to do. He didn't speak, so I knew I had to initiate conversation. 

"So. Did my terrible joke destroy any shred of soul you had left?" I asked, jokingly.

He rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. 

"Hmm, won't talk to me? Alright then, time to up the anti I guess."

He glanced up at me, with an unreadable expression. Maybe he was curious, but I'd never be able to guess. I cleared my throat and began.

"Did you hear about the man who got his left arm and left leg cut off? Don't worry, he's all right now."

He continued staring, no visible response.

"Nothing? Come on, I stole that one from adventure time. Alright, how about something more surprising."

"What's red, and bad for your teeth?"

I waited for his response. Finally he muttered, "What?"

I grinned. "A brick."

He sucked in his breath and looked at the ceiling. "That was terrible." He brooded. I nodded cheerfully. 

"Is it so bad it cancels out the other one?" 

He glanced back down to me. "Is that what you're trying to do?" 

I nodded. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. I almost wondered if he was going to open them and suddenly have huge anime eyes. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because of that picture I saw in the town library. It looked kinda old, and it had an anime character that sorta looked like Craig on it. 

Huh, now that I thought about it, the picture also had a character on it with a halfway buttoned green shirt and unkempt blonde hair..... like Tweek. What a weird coincidence. 

Craig opened his eyes again, like he had decided something. They were unchanged. "Congratulations, you did it. Let's go back to the table."

I jumped up and whooped. I happily trotted back to the table, Craig at my heels. When we arrived I saw hints of confusion in everyone's eyes, but if what I saw was correct nobody acted on their feelings. Clyde instead smiled through his obvious bafflement.

"Welcome back Craig. We promise not to make anymore stupid jokes." 

Craig, to my surprise, smiled. It was small, and hardly anything compared to someone like Tokens award winning grin, but it was nice in it's own way. I looked away, so it wouldn't seem like I was staring, but I honestly was a little.

Craig sat down again, and they all began chatting again. I think I might have spoken too, but I was mostly focused on Craigs smile, which had now vanished.

'He must only smile when he's with people he likes....' I thought. I smiled to myself. 'That's really sweet....'

"Y/n!" I heard Clyde shout, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

"Yeah, what?!" I said, jumping a little. Clyde, Tweek, and Token laughed at me, and Craig rolled his eyes again.

"He asked you about team Stan." Craig told me. I rose an eyebrow.

"What like a sports team? Is Stan a captain?"

Tweek rapidly shook his head. "N-no. There are t-two teams, team S-Stan, and team Craig. We're team C-Craig" He explained.

"Why's that? What are the teams for?" 

Token sipped his milk and answered. "They're not really for anything, we've had them since elementary school. I think at one point the girls had a secret club where they voted on things, and one of the biggest ones was whether team Stan or team Craig was better."

Clyde nodded. "Yeah, and the concept just kinda stuck since then."

"So the guys I usually hang out with are team Stan?"

"Yeah, we asked you why." Craig said.

"Oh.... I don't know. I guess they were just the first people I met here. And they've been super nice to me, why wouldn't I be friends with them?" I said, smiling.

"Well then why are you over here? Wouldn't they want to know why you're not sitting with them today?" Clyde leaned over and asked.

"They went out on a surprise camping trip, and I had to find new people to sit with for the next couple days." 

"Oh no you're coming back?" Craig asked.

I stuck out my tongue at him. "You betcha!" 

The boys laughed, and I felt good. I was glad I actually found some new people to sit with. Thinking back on it, eating by myself in the bathroom sounded super gross, especially in this school. 

The bell rang, and people started leaving their tables to dump their trays. I looked down at my food, and realized I hadn't even began eating. The boys looked over as I groaned.

"What's wrong?" Asked Token.

"I forgot to eat!" I cried, staring hopelessly at my full tray. Token picked up his lavender backpack from under the table and began to dig through it.

"Hang on...." He mumbled. 

He finally found what he was looking for, a thermos. It was well made and much bigger than most thermoses i'd seen. He handed it to me.

"Oh thank you! What would I do without you?" I joked. 

He smiled, and slung his backpack over his shoulders again. "No sweat, just make sure you wash it and give it back."

I began carefully spooning it into the thermos. "No problem, see you in art!"

He waved and walked away. I finished up the process and quickly dumped my tray, then I ran out into the hallway with Tweek, Craig and Clyde, who were all going in the same direction as me. I twisted the cap as far as it would go, just to be extra careful, and slipped it into my purse.

We started talking about random things, but the whole time I was with them I couldn't help but notice the stares again, and this time the were accompanied by whispers. Usually I would loudly ask everyone what they were talking about, but I didn't want to embarrass my new friends. 

Whatever, Who cares what everyone else thinks?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Craig: :/
> 
> Y/n: :D
> 
> Craig: >:/ 
> 
> Craig:....
> 
> Craig: ... <3


	11. Kyle Brofloski

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little snippit from Kyles eyes

Kyles P.O.V.

I sat near the bonfire we all made, toasting marshmallows and making s'mores for everyone. Cartman and Kenny had disappeared a few minutes ago, I assume to get high or pee, which ever really they wanted. And Stan was asleep in our small tent a few feet away, since he had spent half the night on his phone showing us videos.

Kenny's uncle was passed out in his rusty red truck, the door open and his legs hanging out. I could hear his snoring, and I was silently wondering if I should see if he was alright, because he would just stop breathing randomly, then after about twenty seconds make a weird grunting sound and pick back up again.

Before I could consider any longer, Kenny and Cartman came crashing through the trees. I could tell from the second I saw Cartmans face he was drunk, and Kenny definitely wasn't looking any smoother. But he looked more high than drunk.

Cartman laughed at nothing and flopped on the hood of the truck, Kenny just watching in silent amusement. His uncle stirred, but didn't wake up.

Stans shirtless form crawled halfway out of our shabby tent, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked from Cartmans still laughing body sprawled across the metal hood, then to me and Kenny who had sat down next to me.

I could already tell what he was thinking, so I spoke. "I have no idea why he's being so loud, I think he's hammered."

Before Stan could respond, Cartman flipped over onto his back and pointed at the sky angrily. "Shut up jew, i'm as quiet as your moms-!" 

"Cartman don't you dare start talking about my mom!" I turned to Kenny, much softer.

"Did you get him drunk? He never gets this shitfaced on his own."

Kenny grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Maybe...." He said annoyingly. I smiled slightly, somehow Kenny always made everything funny, even if it was really obnoxious. 

Stan crawled all the way out, realizing he wasn't going to get anymore sleep. He yawned loudly, so loudly it made me feel tired to just by association. I yawned as well and stretched my arms upwards, causing me to lean back slightly. 

I was shirtless too, despite camping in the mountains every year Mr. McCormick always found the most humid spot to stay, there was never even any snow unless you decided to venture out farther. So most of the time Stan and I wore just our shorts and sneakers. Kenny usually took off his shirt with us, but kept his parka on over his bare chest. I always wondered why, he must have gotten hot even if he kept it unzipped.

Stan scanned my form, probably noticing my freckles. I had spent a lot of time in the sun over the last couple of years, and eventually they just started appearing. Only on my joints though, never my face for some reason. It's probably a genetic thing.

They were pretty faint, but Cartman must have noticed, because he slammed his fist on the hood and sat up.

"Kyle, since when are you 100% ginger? How long have you been hiding this from me?!" He shouted, louder than I was expecting. 

I rose an eyebrow and pulled at the bottoms of my hat. "What?"

Cartman hiccuped violently, and once he steadied himself gestured vaguely at my body. "I mean, since when do you have all those freckles?! I made it very clear in 4th grade that I was only so nice to you because you were only half ginger! But now you are the full 100%, with pale skin, red hair, and freckles!"

I stared at Cartman, frozen in place i'm sure with a dumbfounded look on my face. I was still holding onto my hat, but it was very loosely, like I wasn't even aware I was doing it.

Kenny laughed and put down the magazine he was looking over (he always said the girls looked even better when he was stoned). "Dude... I forgot about that. It's been awhile, you haven't made fun of him for a being a ginger in years."

He crossed his arms. I noticed just how red his face looked, especially on his rounded nose. Stan must have seen it too. "Jesus Cartman, how much beer could you drink in five minutes?" He said. 

He hiccuped and glanced over to him, and began laughing hysterically. Pounding his fists on the hood, and shaking so much I could see it was even starting to disturb Kennys uncle.

Kenny laughed too, though much less hysterically. He patted my back, and smiled at me. "He didn't have beer...."

Cartman reached over the edge of the truck and pulled out a large bottle of jack. It was the strong stuff too, I knew from my experiences with Stan. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, worriedly. He had been trying his best to keep his mind off the stuff, (I had been helping him) but now Cartman was just going to wave it around in front of him like it was nothing? 

He sighed, and recited something under his breath. I was the only one paying attention to him, Kenny was distracted by Cartmans antics, and Cartman of course was busy getting more drunk, taking more gulps of it every couple seconds. I'm pretty sure Stan wasn't even aware he said it out loud.

"Just be honest with people. It'll suck for awhile, but eventually life will move on and things will get better. Everything is going to hurt sometimes, that's how things work."

He looked over to Cartman. "Hey... can you put that away?"

Cartman took another swig from the bottle before glancing back over to him, looking more and more giggly. "Whyyyy?"

Stan didn't answer, and just hung his head. We all stared at him for a moment, and I gave Cartman a look. He finally seemed to get it.

"Ohhhhh. Sorry dude, I forgot." Stan looked back up at him, and Eric chucked the bottle into the woods onto a couple of large rocks. I shattered loudly, and finally the noise was enough to fully wake up Mr. McCormick.

He sat up groggily, and smacked his head against the mirror. He put his hand up to sooth his bump, and looked at all of us confusedly. I noticed Kenny didn't even bother pulling his parka hood down to cover his red eyes like he did with his parents.

"What are you boys doing? You're making enough noise to wake the dead."

I looked over his mud covered clothes, and his scraggly and dirty half-beard. He looked like he just crawled out of the ground. "Yeah, we know." I said.

If he heard me, he didn't show it. He looked back over to wear the bottle was destroyed, and sighed.

"Are you boys having troubles? Why would you waste a perfectly good bottle of jack?"

Cartman hiccuped again, and I could tell he was more loose-lipped than normal. Thankfully, before he could say something weird, Mr. McCormick squinted his eyes and nodded understandingly. He pointed at Cartman, while staring sternly.

"Eric son, are you drunk?"

Cartman nodded dizzily, and hiccuped again. "You know it.....!"

He sighed heavily, and slowly stood up. He stretched and yawned, then put his hands on his hips and stared at all of us intently. "You boys know I let you get away with most things when I take you out here, but I can not sit back and allow you to throw away a bottle of my best jack."

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment. "Sorry sir, we just... uh...." 

I looked from Stan to Cartman, fishing for an excuse. The only reason I could come up with was the truth, and I was fairly sure Stan didn't want me telling all of his problems. He looked at me gratefully, thankful I understood his plight. 

Kenny did too apparently, as he immediately picked up on my silent cry for help and stood up. 

"We all made a promise to be nice to each other over the trip, and Cartman realized the alcohol was making it harder for him to keep that promise." He leaned back and stared at Cartman, who now looked incredibly nervous. "Speaking of that promise...."

Cartman groaned and rolled his eyes. He fished around in his pockets for a second, and pulled out his wallet. He grumbled something under his breath as he got off the hood and wobbled over to Kenny and handed him dollar. Kenny then made a big show of putting it in his pockets, grinning like the joker the whole time.

"Thank you...!" He sang.

Kennys uncle rose a bushy eyebrow at this. "A promise eh? And just who would that promise be to?"

Stan got tired of standing and sat down next to me. "It's our friend Y/n. She made us swear right before we left school."

"Ahh Y/n, was she the one waving to you boys?"

"Yeah, that's her." I said.

He smirked, and I could see all of his yellow teeth. "Sounds like you all really care about her."

Cartman burped, and laughed. "Uh huh, those gay-wads probably couldn't go a day without her."

I felt my face go from lightly pink to a burning red, and I could see Stans ears turn red as well, something I hadn't seen happen in a long time. Even Kenny looked down away from his uncle. 

'That's weird.... why do they all look so flustered? Wait, why am I feeling warm?' I pondered.

Mr. McCormick interrupted my train of thought before it could leave the station. "Well it just sounds like you all need some kind of distraction. How about we all do some hunting? I think I got enough guns for the five of us..."

"Hunt what?" I asked, still hung up on my last thoughts. He shrugged and spit in the grass. "Anything around. There's always good meat in the mountains."

I looked around at the others. We all just shrugged, except Cartman. He just stared at Mr. McCormick, unblinking for a minute.

"Cartman what's wrong with you?" Kenny asked, reading my mind.

'THUMP'

He fell to the ground face first, and immediately began snoring loudly. We all snickered, even Kenny's uncle. 

"Yeah, Jack that strong will do that to a boy. He'll get up soon though, it wears off pretty quickly. Let's just put him in the tent."

We all lifted up one of Cartmans limbs and carried him over to the tent, sloppily shoving him inside. With our combined strength (mostly Mr. McCormicks working-man muscle), we managed to get it done fairly quickly, despite Cartman hanging like a rag doll in our arms.

Mr. McCormick looked at the tent for a moment, now with a misshapen bulge poking through the thin fabric, created by Cartmans legs leaning on one wall of the tent. 

"When he wakes up he'll probably still be slightly buzzed, it'd best not to leave him alone." He muttered, mostly to himself more than anything. 

Kenny yawned and looked around at us. Finally he shrugged. "I might as well, i'm pretty hungry, so i'll just stay here and stuff my face."

A laugh escaped my throat. "I wonder why?" I said sarcastically.

Kenny stuck his tongue out at me. It kinda reminded me of Y/n. 

Mr. McCormick sniffed. Maybe it was his way of laughing, but either way he seemed amused at how obviously high his nephew was acting.

"Alright Kenny you stay here. But feel free to come around if Eric wakes up alright." He turned to me and Stan. "Now, let's get you boys your guns."

Kenny leaned on one of the nearby t.v. stands covered in garbage and half-eaten snacks. He saluted us coolly as we walked away, then from behind me I heard him rustling around with the garbage for some food. 

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Kenny really likes guns. Or any weapons for that matter. He's not afraid of them or anything, he'll pick them up and use them when he has to. But if he has the option to he always leaves weapons alone. 

Even as Mysterion, he'll fight with his bare hands. I don't think I've ever seen him use anything more dangerous than maybe a kitchen knife, and that was just to intimidate someone. I still don't know why. Maybe he had some bad experiences with weapons?

I thought about asking Stan about it now that we were alone, (Mr. McCormick was digging around the back of his messy truck for the guns) but I immediately noticed he was quietly trying to cover his still red ears with his hat. His actions brought me back to my previous thoughts, namely Y/n.

Why exactly did my face heat up when they brought her up? It only ever did that when I was embarrassed. 

'What was I so embarrassed of? Of course I care about Y/n, she's one of my best friends. That's why all the others got flustered too, right?"

'Why?' I asked myself. 'That doesn't make any sense. They can get embarrassed about stuff like that, but I never have. Why is it different now?'

I could feel something creeping up in the back of my mind. A nagging feeling, like a storm cloud slowly but surely moving in on an unprepared ship. 

I ignored it as I thanked Mr. McCormick. We all walked silently into the woods, clutching our weapons to our chests. The quiet required for hunting left me alone with my thoughts some more.

'Why did Cartman even bring that up?' I thought. 'And a better question, why would caring about a friend make you a gay-wad? Was that why I felt so embarrassed? It's the only option that makes sense...'

Mr. McCormick put a hand out to stop us from walking any further. He put a finger up to his lips, and stared intently in front of him.

Stan and I peeked from under his shoulder. In front of us was a small clearing outlined by tall trees. A large deer stood in the middle, eating grass from a patch of green between a couple of bushes. It looked elegant and wise, it's long legs strong and steady. 

"Are you going to shoot it?" Stan asked, a hint of worry in his voice. He obviously was regretting coming along, Stan never was one for hurting things that didn't deserve it. But I couldn't say I disagreed with him.

Mr. McCormick shook his head, his eyes never leaving the deer. "No, she's got babies. You don't kill a mother."

As soon as he said that, I noticed two fawn behind the doe. One was bigger than the other, and was nudging the smaller one gently with it's head. 

Mr. McCormick scoffed as he watched. "The little one isn't theirs. Some other bastard must have killed its parents."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

He pointed at the two babies. "Look at the little one compared to the big one. They look completely different from each other. Deer do this a lot, adopt the fawn that have no one to watch out for them."

I kept watching, becoming enthralled in it's actions. Something about the small family spoke to me.

They all went about there business for a few seconds, then the larger fawn broke off from the group and to a nearby berry bush. As it nibbled off a fruit, a gopher popped out of the ground nearby and came hopping hesitantly to the bush and the deer.

The deer stared at it for a moment, then continued eating. Allowing the gopher to come and join him.

Then came a very fat looking grey squirrel, holding in it's small paws an acorn. It sped up to the bush, not even waiting to see if it was alright with the other animals. It began digging in the dirt around the bush and buried it in the ground.

It then slowly climbed up into the bush, right as the deer tried to eat it. The deer backed up bit, aggressively dropping it's ears as if to say "Hey dude fuck off." 

The squirrel however stayed, though it didn't stop stealing berries. The deer and the squirrel seemed to be in an unspoken rivalry now, each trying to grab the berries first. The gopher didn't interact with the two, instead just focusing on itself and it's own berries.

Then out from the trees, much more noticeable from the others was a fox. I gasped, I had never seen a red fox before in the wild. 

As it got closer to the bush, I noticed it looked considerably beat up. It's ears were torn, and it was thin. Too thin to be healthy, as even from far away I could see it's ribs. Though he still trotted along confidently up to the rest of the animals, who all seemed to welcome him. Even the squirrel, who batted at the foxes snout when he leaned in to take a few berries, seemed welcoming in his own way.

Mr. McCormick turned to look at me and sniffed again, his nose whistling slightly. 

"You like watching the animals son?"

I nodded, not wanting to disturb them. "I never know they could be so.... cool." I said lamely. It didn't matter though, it was cool, and I wanted to stay and continue to watch their story unfold. Though I did feel a little guilty, I didn't want them to stay here while I stared at a bunch of animals, especially when we came out here to hunt.

I broke my gaze from the animals and turned to him. "We can leave if you want though, there's tons of other places to hunt besides here."

Mr. McCormick nodded. "You're right, lets start heading west, I hear there's wild boars somewhere around there." He said quietly to Stan and I.

We slowly walked away from the clearing and through more woods. My mind instantly went back to what Cartman had said, like it was waiting for me to stop focusing on the animals to torment me more with confusion.

'Why does any of this bother me so much? Why do I keep going back to what he said?'

'I figured it all out... right?' 

In my distracted daze, I tumbled forward slightly on a tree root, and I saw from the corner of my eye all the animals glance over towards us, and stay completely still. It was weird, I expected them to run away. Not even the squirrel moved, and I knew for a fact from watching them scurry around my front yard they don't usually hesitate to run at even the smallest hint of danger. It was like they didn't want to leave the bush for some reason.

"Careful." Stan mumbled, completely lost in his own world. I nodded, even though he wasn't even looking in my direction.

Again, my brain brought me back to the previous issue, despite the fact I had already solved it. There was still the nagging feeling from before, and now I couldn't just shove it aside. It hung like a fog over my brain, and I had a vague feeling it had something to do with Y/n.

'Why her? Why do I care about this so much? Why does her face keep messing with me?'

I grimaced. 'Why do I keep asking so many 'why' questions?'

Something clicked. For a moment, I sat in my realization, not entirely comprehending what I just figured out. Then it all hit me like a bowling ball to the face. 

'I like Y/n.'

It was a simple thought, and if it was any other thought I would have brushed it off immediately as some weird intrusive idea that didn't mean anything. But I couldn't. No matter what I did the thought it stayed firmly placed in my head.

I felt my face once again heat up, but not like it usually did. It was common to feel my cheeks turn warm, especially when i'm embarrassed (which happens a lot), but now it felt like I dunked my head into a volcano. I could even feel it stinging my ears, a completely new feeling. 

"No...." I muttered. "I can't be..."

Stan heard me and turned around to half face me. "What?" He whispered.

My blush got even more intense as I realized Stan could hear me. "N-nothing!" I stammered.

He gave me a weird look, then turned back around. 

Out of instinct, I took off my hat and began running my fingers through my hair. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few wisps of my springy hair, and realized my face probably matched their color. 

Again, Stan noticed my odd behavior and turned again, this time completely around. 

"Dude, are you okay? You're acting kind of weird, and you're all red."

I nodded, maybe a little too quickly, because he responded. "Are you sure?" He said, quirking an eyebrow. Kinda like Y/n....

I nearly slapped myself. 'No, no! I don't like her! I can't.... Oh god, is this what liking someone feels like?' 

My thoughts were a jumbled mess, now I finally understood why Stan always threw up when he crushed on Wendy, I felt like I was going to vomit too.

"Mr. McCormick I have to go back to camp!" I blurted out, louder than I probably needed to.

"And why's that son?" He asked, not even taking his eyes off of a rabbit a few meters away from us. 

I ran my fingers through my hair some more. What was I supposed to say? 'I have to sort through my feeling for one of my best friends I just realized I had'? 

I glanced around, trying to find an excuse. Stan was staring at me worriedly, waiting for my response. 

"I, uh.. BOARS!" I practically yelled, scaring away the rabbit.

"Calm down son, what about them?" He said, turning to me.

"Uh, they're like pigs right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I can't kill pigs. I'm Jewish, remember? I should just go back down to the camp since there's nothing useful I can do.."

He squinted his eyes, obviously seeing through my excuse. But he shrugged, and shooed me away. "Alright then, just make sure you turn the safety on the gun when you put it away."

I nodded again. And ran back down to the site, my mind racing.

'Why would I have a crush on Y/n? She's one of my best friends.' It thought. 'Sure she's pretty, and a talented singer, and she's good with little kids, and smart, and optimistic even though she definitely has mental problems, and she's passionate about everything she loves, and she tries to see the best in people, and she always tries to make everyone around her happy, and...'

I stopped running, realizing I was just listing all her good qualities. My face still blazing, I leaned against a nearby tree and slid down it, like Y/n did in the first ever class we had together. 

I gripped my hair, realizing again my brain went to her. 

"Dear god... I really do like her." I said, feeling fireworks go off in my stomach. 

I hugged my knees to my chest, my eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"......What do I do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God looking back on it, these all make me cringe. Whatever. I'm not fixing it. I love Kyle, and this bad writting is cannon.


	12. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're little team starts to put together a plan.

Coons P.O.V.

I watched my tablets illuminated screen flashed as I received an urgent message from Wonder Tweek. I quickly tapped the message icon, my steel blue eyes swinging back and forth as I read his news.

"Coon, word has just spread that Professor Chaos is planning something tonight. I don't know what, but they say he's going to be at the the abandoned hospital with another villain tonight."

My fast fingers typed out a reply, followed by another response from my quick team mate.

"Another villain? Do you know who?"

"No, all I know they're going to be there together. Probably to destroy something more easily."

My eyes darted away from the screen and towards the jail cell in the corner of the room It's steel bars and nearly-indestructible base were tough, but somehow Chaos always managed to escape. What could he accomplish with another by his side?

I pondered handsomely over the thought, brooding over how I would win this one. I swiped out of the messages, and tapped on another application, doing so I sounded the coon alert, letting the team know to come down to the base. We would need the entire combined forces for this.

As I waited I paced back and forth behind the table, deep in thought. 

"Who could this new villain be?" I muttered, my deep enchanting voice soothing even my own tortured mind. 

I sighed. "I suppose I will just have to wait and see..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat in the middle of my bedroom floor, Butters sitting to my left sewing some black fabric onto the inside eye holes of the mask, and Brittany was in front of me, sitting on her knees and layering makeup on my face. We were all giggling.

Butters finished one eye and leaned back onto my bed frame, glancing over at us with a big happy grin on his face. 

"I'm really excited Y/n, this is gonna be my first ever evil scheme with another person!"

I laughed some more, trying to stay as still as possible to not ruin Brittany's flow. "Me too, I never would have thought i'd be a villain, not even mentioning being a villain with some random guy from school." 

A thought suddenly popped into my head. "Hey, did you make sure to spread that rumor?" I said, moving my eyes to him.

He nodded, and started pushing some more fine thread through the needles eye. "Uh-huh! By now they all heard that Professor Chaos and another mysterious Villain will be at the abandoned hospital tonight, causing mischief!" 

Me a Brittany giggled at how over-dramatic his tone was. For the next few minutes we all sat in comfortable silence, and I closed my eyes as she applied layers and layers of eye-shadow, eye-liner, and then eventually I felt something cold and wet swirl close to my right temple and then to my cheek, creating unseen patterns and symbols.

Finally Butters set down his supplies and held his completed project in from of him, smiling proudly. He turned to me and Brittany, who didn't even notice him in the midst of her art. 

"Look Y/n! I did everything you asked, and.... uh.... a little more." He got slightly bashful towards the end, though his excitement still shined through. I rose an eyebrow. 

"What exactly do you mean by "A little more?", did you cover it in tin-foil so we'd match or something?" 

"Well no, that is a good idea though! I can do that if you really want to...."

I waved my hand, almost smacking poor Brittany. "Whoops sorry Britt! And no Butters, it's alright. I picked out that mask because it was music themed, I wouldn't wanna cover it up."

He nodded understandingly. "Well here! Look at all the adjustments I made!"

I took it, and noticed immediately that the feathers that were once frilled out all on the left side were gone, and in their place was a single dark blue rose. I gingerly put one of the petals between my pointer finger and thumb, feeling it. Fabric. 

"I see you got rid of the feathers, did you not like them or something?" I asked, turning the mask in my hands.

He flushed a tiny bit, though it was very noticeable on his pale features. "No! I just thought....uh..."

I laughed. "Don't worry man, I didn't really like them either. I know they were going to for sure itch like hell."

Butters eyes widened for a second, then returned for normal. I rose my eyebrow again. "What? Did I say something weird?"

Butters flushed again, embarrassed. He was like Kyle in that regard. "No! I've just never heard you swear before is all."

"Really? Huh. I didn't even notice. Maybe it's because of all the time I've been spending with the boys. Hey Britt, have you noticed?"

I turned to look at her, and saw that she was staring at Butters's laptop. He had it open and playing a random movie (which happened to be Adams Family Values) for background noise while we worked. But she definitely was just listening to us talk. It's strange, she's a great actor around all the boys at work, but never around me.

I rose an eyebrow, wondering why she was so obviously pretending to not listen. I shrugged to myself, brushing it off as just something weird, and turned back to the mask.

I turned it around in my hands, to see the eye-covers stitches on the back where they were more obvious. I noticed some loose thread hanging off the sides, where the straps once were. I tilted my head and turned to Butters, who was still watching me intently.

"Yo, what happened to the straps? I kinda need those if I wanna wear this." I said, fiddling with the loose thread. It wasn't exactly a big deal if the strap just fell off or something, Butters could easily replace it. But it looked pretty purposeful, and that was weird. 

"Oh! I got rid of those! But..." He said, pointing to the upper rim of the masks underside. "I did glue on this!"

Beside his finger was a small plastic hook, the only reason I hadn't noticed it yet was because it was practically clear. Once I did see it however, I also saw several more, all crowded around towards the top. I poked at them curiously.

"How will these replace the strap?" I asked him, trying to imagine what they could possibly hook onto. My hair maybe? But that sounds painful, and besides how would that work? 

"Oh well.... When you went to the bathroom, me and Brittany were talking about you. And she said that you liked to go all out with things..."

Is snorted. "Oh really?" Brittany giggled behind me. I turned stuck out my tongue at her.

Butters chuckled a bit. "Yeah, she said whenever you had to pretend to do stuff at your job, you were just over the top and always tried way to hard. Her words not mine." He quickly added.

I laughed again. "Welp, I'm glad to know my bestie is slandering me behind my back." I said, overly cheerful. "But what does that have to do with the....?"

"Well I thought, what if you had a wig? Like a really dramatic wig. So I thought....you know...you could hook those.... onto the... ." He said, getting slower and more nervous with each word.

"Did you get me a wig?"

He flushed a bit more, and looked down embarrassed. "Well now that I say it out loud it sounds kinda weird...."

I perked up, my smile stretching so far my face started to hurt. "Thank you Butters!" I squealed, lunging at him and circling my arms around his body. 

He jumped back a little, and let out a small whimper without meaning to out of surprise. He tentatively returned the gesture, and after a second he even buried his face into my neck. He smelled like baby-powder, and his hair was inhumanly soft against the side of my face.

I pulled away. "What color is it? Is it long? How brushable is it, because some wigs are just impossible to comb-"

He scrunched his eyebrows together. "Wait really? You're actually okay with a wig?"

I grinned. "Of course! I already said the disguise was up to you, just as long as I liked it. A wig would definitely help conceal my identity, plus it is super dramatic. And unfortunately, you are 100% right about me being a dramatic hoe. So yeah. Wig all the way."

He smiled. "Wow really?! I thought you were going to call me stupid or something!"

"Of course not, why would I?"

He chuckled sheepishly. "I don't know. I just assumed that for some reason."

I ruffled his hair and leaned in closer to him. "You worry to much. Now..." I adjusted myself so that I was once again facing Brittany, who now was just full on watching us. "Let's finish up on my face shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coons P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I waited for the team to settle down and sit in their usual seats. I had my hands clasped together on the table in front of me, and my eyes were facing down. I know, looked like an even-cooler Batman.

I sighed. "Everyone quiet down!" I commanded. "Now, I assume you all must want to know why you're here, right?"

A collection of "Yeahs" echoed all around the base. I pushed the chair back and stood up, then began pacing around the table, my arms folded behind my back. 

"We have received news that Professor Douche bag will be at the abandoned hospital tonight, with plans to destroy something."

Everyone glanced around at one another. Human Kite spoke. "So?"

I turned and glared at him. "Human kite you want to say something?"

He leaned back and rose an eyebrow, much like a young woman I was familiar with. "Why is it such a big deal? He's always doing stuff like this, why did you call us here for something so minor? You could have just texted us or something."

I crossed my arm in front of me and turned my back to him, facing the wall covered in various pictures and clippings of villains and their dirty deeds. Most were of professor Chaos.

"Because..." I said to the wall. "Apparently he will not be alone."

No one spoke. It was quiet, and I could practically feel them all glance at each other in confusion. Finally Super Craig spoke.

"Not alone? Who's he with?" He asked, monotone.

I began pacing again. "This, we do not know. That's why I summoned you all here so early, to see if anyone had some kind of suspect as to who this Mystery Criminal could be."

No one spoke, and as I returned to my chair I saw that everyone was deep in thought. Finally Toolshed broke the silence. 

"C'mon guys think, are there other villains he would work with?" 

"N-no! H-he has n-never done anything l-like this before!" Wonder Tweek cried out. 

Everyone went silent again. I sighed and slammed my hands down on the table, once again grabbing everyone's attention. 

"Come on! No one has anything?"

They all shifted in their seats, obviously feeling guilty over their inability to form any ideas. I sighed again and leaned against the table, my hard eyes shining in the lamp-light. 

"Well if we have no suspects, we're going to have to prepare for anything. Everyone go home and get some rest, tonight we might as well be charging into battle against Mysterion." I quipped.

"Hey at least you all know who I am." Mysterion said. I rolled my eyes, and turned back to our wall of villains, as if it would all suddenly piece together in my mind. 

Everyone stood up behind me and began to leave. No one spoke, but it was clear that they all had the same question on their minds. 

"Who is he, and why is he working with Butters?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Butters who taught you how to drive?!" Brittany screeched as he drove over yet another pothole. I personally wasn't affected, but Brittany was on her knees in the leather seat next to me, her seat belt nowhere in sight. 

"Hey it's not my fault, South Park just never fixes their roads!" He argued, driving over another. Brittany used my shoulder to support herself.

"I'm trinna do the rest of Y/n's Makeup, why does our town have to be so cheap?" She whined. I laughed at her.

"Well I can try my best to avoid the potholes if that would be any better." Butters offered. 

"Yes please!" 

"Okay!" He said like a cartoon character. I thought nothing of it for a moment, then he swerved so hard Brittany lost her balance and toppled over onto me. The liquid eye-liner she was holding made a mark on my leg, but other than that I was alright. 

He swerved again, making Brittany fall to the floor. I tried to lean over to help her up but with another swerve I was thrown back onto my seat. 

Suddenly we were turning a very hard left, and I finally yelled. "BUTTERS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" 

We came to a calm halt. Brittany sat up from the floor, her platinum blonde hair a mess. Some how in the chaos (heh) her ponytail had come loose, and now her once-perfect hair was all over the place. She lushly combed it back with her fingers and looked from me to Butters with wild eyes.

"Why.....?" She whispered, barely even audible. The shock must still be racing through her veins, otherwise she would have been screaming.

Butters smiled, flashing his pearly whites. If I hadn't just been in the same car as him, I would have said he looked innocent. "You told me to avoid the potholes. That's what I did!" 

Brittany took a moment to collect herself, tied her hair back, adjusted her shirt, calmed her breathing, all that good stuff. Once she was all put back together, she calmly turned to Butters. 

"I'm sorry for being bratty."

Butters flushed a small bit, obviously not expecting that. I noticed it wasn't as prominent as it was with me for some reason.

"O-oh. Thanks Brittany! I wasn't expecting you to-"

"But!..." She interrupted, pushing her long, polished finger into his face to silence him. "I will get my revenge. So you better watch yourself."

I smiled at Butter's confused face. "There it is. You can't do something like that to a Raisins girl."

He grinned. "How would you know?"

I froze, unsure of how to respond. Despite how close I was with my friends now, I still didn't want to tell them I worked at Raisins. I wasn't ashamed per say, but a lot of my business came from Clyde and the others, and I didn't want it to get awkward.

Thankfully, Brittany, sensing my difficulty piped up. "Uh, I'm literally her best friend? What do you mean, how does she know?" She laughed.

I gave her a smile, and Brittany patted my leg reassuringly. Butters looked confused. I waved my hand and stuck out my tongue. "Don't worry about it, it's a girl thing."

He shrugged, then started the car up again and started to drive. This time much more safely. "If you say so!" 

Brittany got up off the floor and back into her seat. She placed one leg over the other and crossed her arms just above her stomach, making her boobs look bigger. Out of instinct I looked towards my own. I'm honestly not sure why I do this, it's not like I'm jealous or anything, I just do whenever I see another girls for some reason. I noticed in the tussle she spilled some makeup on my chest.

I looked back to Brittany. "Hey you got some stuff on me, do you have any wipes?"

"Always." She said, tossing me her neon orange makeup purse. No, not a makeup bag, a purse. Like an entire, large purse full of makeup. 

"Goddamn it Britt, there's so much in here!" I cried.

She scoffed and playfully shoved me. "Like yours is any better Y/n! I've seen your school bag, it's full of garbage!"

I blew a raspberry. "It's not garbage, it's stuff i'm waiting to recycle."

Butters perked up. He looked at me through his mirror. "You do that too? I thought I was the only one!"

My eyes lit up. "Eyy!! A fellow bro I see?"

He laughed at my weird tone. "Uh-huh! I pick up everything I see, then I go home and recycle them!"

"You're neighborhood does recycling? Aw no fair, mine doesn't! I have to go to that really nice store and do it piece by piece in their little machines."

"Whole foods?"

I snapped my fingers. "That's the bitch. I have to go there if I wanna recycle them, otherwise I'd have to throw it all away."

He looked away from the mirror and was silent for a moment. He was probably thinking about something, but since I still didn't know him too well I couldn't read all of his emotions yet. 

His eyes widened, and I noticed he squeezed the steering wheel just a little bit tighter. 

"Well, you could could always come over to my house. To recycle I mean!"

I tapped my chin. "....Yes... Yeah! That's a great plan! I'll come over every Saturday or something, and we can study together too!"

"Sounds like a plan!" He said. His face was red again, which confused me. What had I done to embarrass him?

We all continued driving in silence. I couldn't tell whether it was uncomfortable or not. Brittany slowly scooted over towards me while I cleaned up my chest. I glanced over at her, and she started making faces. 

"Hmm? What's up?" I said quietly. 

Brittany rose both her eyebrows and looked from me to Butters. Then again. I got her message.

I shook my head. "No, it's not like that Britt. Why are you even... uh.... talking, about this?"

She shook her head and poked me, mouthing the word 'Recycling?'. I scoffed. 

I rolled my eyes. "Girl, you're digging too deep when there's literally nothing." 

She made a heart with her hands. I shook my head again, and mouthed 'No!'. She made a pouty face and broke the heart in half. We both stared at each other for a second before bursting into giggles.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Mysterions P.O.V.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I leaped out the bedroom window, leaving behind my family. All except one, but she was at a friends house probably. I rushed into the night, jumping and gliding over things effortlessly in the dark. 

The Coon had texted me an hour earlier, telling me to meet the team at the hospital. It thankfully wasn't very far away, but I also had to go and remind Fast-pass about the mission. It was a little out of the way, but who really gives a crap?

I shimmied up the gutter drain, using the rain barrel as leverage. I opened his glass window, and crouched down menacingly in the frame.

"Wake up." I ordered.

Fast-pass woke with a start, spluttering nonsense. When he got a hold of himself he looked at me for a minute, then hopped out of his bed. 

"S-s-sorry, I must have f-fallen asl-asleep." He stuttered. I nodded, and waited for him to get up.

"Just hurry up, we need everyones powers, including your speed. Just in case this villain has something up their sleeve. " 

"R-right. Go on a-a-ahead without me. I'll c-catch u-up." 

I left without a word, and in no time made it to the hospital. It's crumbling architecture hiding any clue it might have once brought life into the world. There were no signs that people were around, no cars, bikes, nothing. But I knew that the group was all here, waiting around for me.

"Mysterion!" Someone called from the distance. "Mysterion you buttfucker, over here!" 

I turned towards the familiar voice, and sure enough it was Coon. He was squatting behind the trees in the nearby woods, and once I saw him I saw the others as well. Even Fast-pass somehow. 

I slowly walked over to them, being careful not to be seen by anyone, just in case they were there. When I arrived the coon pulled me down to his level, despite that I was already hidden behind an oak tree. 

"Okay here's the plan. Since you're late i'll have to explain it again." He seethed.

"We're going to wait here and watch the entrance of the building, that way when Chaos and the new Villain show up we can at least try and guess what this bitches powers are, and maybe even come up with an attack formation." 

I nodded my head and stood up, making sure I was still thoroughly hidden behind the plant life. I stepped up onto an especially large tree root, using it as leverage and began to scale the tree it came from.

I climbed onto a branch, and crouched in wait. Nothing from the outside could see me, and since I was so silent there was no chance anyone even below me would know I was here. 

I am silent. I am the night. 

And now, I am laying in wait for a new threat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I twirled around, my fake white hair fluttering around me. I stopped once my legs started getting too hot, and I briefly wondered why I was wearing such thick leggings. 

I tried to push my hair back and I accidentally poked myself slightly in the eye with my long fake nail, courtesy of Brittany, of course. They were kinda sharp, and I had to keep reminding myself not to scratch myself too hard. 

I tried to twirl again, but slipped slightly on my bare stocking fee, my real shoes being on the ground besides me. Butter moved to catch me, since I was on a pedestal it would have been a hard fall. But I stopped myself, even if my long wig strands hit me in the face.

The tight belts around my thighs seemed to get tighter, and helped me control my movements better. I looked down at my chest and realized the pink rose in the center was now l covered in the wigs hair. I began to pull it out and spoke.

"Damn Butters. I don't know what I assumed you picked, but it wasn't this" 

He looked guilty. "Oh, is it too much? I'm sorry, I should have-" 

"No, no! I love it. It's the perfect amount off dramatic." 

He breathed a sigh of relief, and his shoulders slouched down, like my response had just untied a knot wrapped around his muscles.

He perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot, there's a skirt too. And it's detachable, so you can fight! Look..." He snapped his fingers and called to the other side of the large warehouse. "Tito! Is the skirt over there?"

"Si, yo tengo la falda. I bring it over?" A heavily accented voice said. The first bit sounded like it was in Spanish. 

"Uh... Si. La falda es para mi amiga." Butters responded, tripping a little over some of the words.

"¿Amiga? ¿Es una chica?"

Butters was silent for a minute, translating it in his head. Suddenly he looked very cautious. "Si... ¿Por qué?"

"¿Estás enamorado?" 

Butters flushed red. I rose an eyebrow, confused. Butters started to ramble in Spanish, though it sounded like he was stuttering a lot.

"¡No! ¡E-ella es solo una amiga! Now please bring it over here!" He yelled, embarrassed. 

He didn't make eye contact with the young man who walked over and handed me the folded piece of cloth. "Thank you." I said, when he didn't.

The man winked at me. "Buena suerte." He said, pointing his thumb at a still flustered Butters. I smiled, confused but still wanting to make a good impression.

"Gracias?" I asked more than said. I had no idea what I was supposed to say other than thank you, I was completely lost.

He laughed and walked away from us, his scruffy black hair waving as he moved. Butters walked over to me, still not looking up from the ground. I grinned like a child. 

"Woah Butters, I didn't know you could speak Spanish!" I squealed. 

Butters looked up a me surprised. "Yeah.... I learned a little so I could talk to them easier." He tugged at the end of the cape he had already put on. "You... don't know Spanish do you?"

I shook my head. "No, I couldn't even understand what you guys were saying. What was it anyways?"

"O-oh, uh... you! We were talking about how you were going to be my partner. That's all." He said taking the fabric from me and holding it out in front of him.

I rose an eyebrow and pursed my lips. "Why'd you get all red then? Did he say something weird?"

Butters's eyes widened, and I could see his mind racing. "Oh! Uh.... kinda?"

"What does that even mean?" I asked, taking the skirt and slipping it on.

He was looking more unsure and panicked by the second. "Uh...! I don't know."

"...You don't know?"

"Yes!"

"....Okay then. Whatever you say man."

Just then Brittany came out of the nearby bathrooms Butters had installed into the building, followed by one of his younger minions. They looked very young, maybe not even in middle school yet. She had hot pink hair being held in a loose bun with a red scrunchy, a matching blood red sweatshirt and a darker shaded skirt. Even from far away I could see how unnaturally pale she was.

Brittany froze as she saw me, and came running up. From the small platform I was standing on I was now around a foot taller than her, and with the semi-circle of mirrors set up around it I could look and talk to her without even turning around. 

"Oh my god Y/n! Look. At. you!" She squealed. I smiled and picked up my dresses long skirt, and noticed a slit along one side of it. My leg was showing from under, and now my confusion over the thick tights was dispelled. 

Tearing my eyes away from my outfit, twirled around to fully face the girls. "Who's this?" I asked Brittany while looking at the kid. Upon closer inspection, she was very "Vamp-kid" looking.

Her scrunchie had pointed red bat wings attached to it, and she was wearing makeup that made her face look sunken in and cold. There was Fake (I hope) blood dripping from her sharp mouth, and she was wearing a blood red necklace with an upside down cross on it.

Brittany looked confused for a moment before suddenly remembering. "Oh yeah! This..." She said while pulling the girl in front of her. "...Is Kimber-"

"Jade."

Brittany stopped and flushed, her face now matching her lipstick. "Whoops. Sorry, I forgot about the whole Vamp-kid thing."

Jade looked to her, expressionless. "How could you possibly forget? Are you stupid?" 

I cringed at the harsh words coming out of her mouth. She might as well have just stabbed Brittany in the gut, at least that might have hurt less. 

Britt did look hurt, but she shoved it down. "No, I just forgot. Everyone forgets." 

I nodded. "Jade.... that's a nice name. Why'd you pick it?"

"I don't know. I wanted something simple, but something different from Kimberly." 

Brittany rose an eyebrow, apparently already recovered. "Wait, didn't you just tell me not to call you that?"

"Yes." She said, her voice full of vivid emotion and feeling. Just joking. This kid could rival Craigs level of enthusiasm if she wanted to.

I glanced at Brittany, who looked to me. We were both waiting for her to continue, but she stayed silent, with nothing more to offer than a fish-eyed stare.

Finally Brittany spoke. "Well, why? If you're just going to tell her why couldn't I have?"

Instead of responding, Jade pointed a finger at me. "You, sidekick. You look like you have more to offer than your looks, why do you think I didn't want her telling?"

I stumbled back slightly. Why did this kid make me feel like I was being interrogated? Wasn't she like seven?! 

Still, I cleared my throat, eager to try and answer. It was a psychology thing, and years of being peoples therapist had helped me know lots about this kind of thing.

"Well.... I think maybe it's a control thing. Not a bad kind of control issue though. You're a little kid, so having people talk down to you and disrespect your wishes is pretty common I imagine, right?"

"Yes." Her expression didn't change, though in her flat voice there wasn't as much of an authoritative push.

"So, I think maybe the only thing you can control in your life is how people perceive you. And even that power can be very limited. That's probably part of the reason why you seem to be so into the whole vamp-kid fashion thingie, it makes it easier for people to see you as exactly what you want to be seen as, a cold, unfeeling husk of a human."

"Get to the point." 

"Sorry, sorry. Basically Britt," I said turning more towards Brittany. "She wants it to be up to her whether or not I know her actual name. Otherwise, she has nothing." 

Brittany was quiet, and I suddenly felt very nervous. "Sorry, was that too much? Maybe I was a little too over enthusiastic, I should have just let you answer-!" 

Jade held up her finger, silencing me. When she looked me in the eye, and I swear I saw a slight gleam of happiness. 

"That was perfect. I don't know what I expected from you, but you proved to me that you can empathize with others easily, and I respect that."

I scratched the back of my neck, flustered. Despite the fact that I was standing above her, I felt like Jade had just lifted me up. "Oh thanks.... No one's ever said anything like that to me before."

Before she could respond, Brittany's loud sob echoed around the large space. I turned, and I saw Brittany was crying into her hands, her face covered in tears.

I quickly hopped down, picking up my skirt with one hand to keep it clean. Butters rushed up to her as well, and I worriedly grabbed her shoulder. "Britt? What's wrong?! What happened?!" 

She blew her nose on the napkin Butters pulled from nowhere. "I'm just so happy.....! Now I won't have to do your makeup!"

I pulled away, and gave Butters a side eye. "What?" I finally said, bewildered. 

Brittany grabbed Jade and dragged her beside her. "Jade here said that she was going to do your makeup for me, just as long as she liked you." 

"Oh! That's what you're so emotional about?" I laughed. "What, do you hate doing my makeup so much you need to hire someone else?" I asked jokingly.

"No, no. I just wanted to train her! I've never been able to train anybody before, and with someone so young it will be super fun to teach her everything I know! Plus I couldn't think of anyone else who wouldn't tell your secret to the entire world, so it's nice to not have to worry about that"

Jade looked mildly uncomfortable, though what do I know? I smiled down at her, and patted her head. "Well thanks for offering your services Jade, I'm very thankful."

Jade pushed away and turned to stop facing me. "It's nothing, especially considering I won't be doing it alone."

I glanced to Brittany, then to Butters, who was busy slipping on his boots. He stopped, looking just as confused as I was. "Uh, I hate to interrupt, but who will be helping you? I didn't know anyone else here was into makeup like you were Jade."

She shrugged. "There isn't, but they're still my best friend. So they're going to help me anyways."

"Wait, wait, wait! I know this one...." Butters said, frantically waving his hands around as he thought. "Is it..... Ashley? No wait, ....... Just Ash? I can't remember if they were a boy or a girl....."

"To save you some dignity, Ashling is neither. And they're the one other vamp-kid in this entire facility."

Butter snapped and smiled. "Oh yeah them! Jeez I can't believe I forgot about them, they're not exactly hard to forget."

I hopped up and down excitedly. "Oh non-binary? How sweet!" I cooed. When I landed I slipped on the glossy floor and fell hard onto my butt. 

"Owwie!" I moaned, my voice was slightly higher than normal from the pain. I rubbed my back and pouted, before slowly getting up. 

Jade stared for a moment, then spun on her heel and started walking to a random corner of the building. "Huh? Yo Jade where you going?" I called after her, taking my hand away from my aching butt.

She stopped, but didn't turn around. "I'm going to retrieve Ashling."

"Why?" Butters asked. 

"I've decided I am going along with Y/n on the mission, and from what I just saw she needs all the help she can get if she really wants to intimidate these heroes." She finished, and began walking away again.

I stood in quiet awe of this childs determination. I turned to Butters who looked like he wanted to object, but like me couldn't. "Did she just...?"He asked. I nodded.

"Damn." Brittany said. "Y/n, if you don't protect those little twerps i'll literally kill you." 

"Don't worry, I've never murdered before, but I probably would for them." I said in awe, still staring at Jades small form.

Butters looked at the two of us, his face face contorted into a mixture of terror and confusion. "Are you girls okay..?"

"Don't worry about it." We said in unison.

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Timeskip!

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

The car ride was long and the air was buzzing with excitement, mostly because of me. Besides me sat Brittany, this time wearing her seat belt, and smushed against the other window besides me was Jade and Ashling. Butters was driving again.

Ashling turned out to be a bit older than Jade, though they still seemed pretty young compared to my friends and I. Maybe ten or eleven at least. They had white and black striped hair that they slicked back into a point, holding it all together with a plastic black headband. 

They wore semi-circle prescription glasses, but the kind that turned into sunglasses in the light. Their glasses must have been the cheap kind though, because they stayed dark and foggy even when Ashling wasn't in the sun. 

While I pondered how Ashling could live life in the dark like that, Brittany was digging through her makeup purse for something. 

I turned as she victoriously pulled out a small clear box with something red inside. "HAHA! I finally-! Oh wait, this isn't it." She huffed and set the box down on the seat next to me, then began scrounging around some more. I picked it up, looking over it curiously. 

Inside of the box was two small, red plates. At least that's the best I could describe them as, honestly I had no idea what they were supposed to be. Eye contacts maybe? But they were packaged very strangely, like fancy jewelry. 

"Yo Britt, what are these?" I asked.

She glanced briefly at the case before turning back to her search. "The contacts? Yeah I got them in a big package with a ton of other beauty stuff, but I have no idea what to do with them. Honestly the idea of contacts scare me, poking in your eye and junk."

"I gotta agree." Butters said.

Well that explained the strange choice of packaging. I held the contacts case up towards the window, enjoying their twinkle. "These are really pretty..." I said.

Brittany nodded absentmindedly. "Oh yeah, they'd go great with dark purple undertones and a black outfit...." She said, mostly to herself.

"What?" Butters asked confusedly. I waved my hand.

"Don't worry about it, her brain is hardwired to figure out the best color schemes for literally any accessory. She does this all the time."

"Neat." Ashling said while leaning over to smile at me, their fake fangs poking through their lips. I chuckled.

"Isn't it? Honestly Without Britt I probably wouldn't even know what a color scheme is." 

Brittany suddenly clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh my god! I have the best idea!" She turned in her seat to me, snatching up the contacts. "Y/n, where's your mask?"

"Uh... Up front with Butters I think?" 

She unbuckled her seat belt and lunged into the front, scaring Butters so much the car jerked slightly, but soon he got it under control. "Not again!" He yelled.

The kids started giggling, despite the adrenaline rushing through my body they seemed perfectly alright with what was happening. I calmed down as well, trusting that Butters was probably the best person here to be driving. 

Brittany found my mask and climbed back into her seat, and began digging through her bag again. She noticed me watching her and put her manicured hand up to my face. "Don't look, I want it to be a surprise!"

"Where do you want me to go? We're literally in a car." I pointed out.

"I don't know, scootch over and talk to Ash or something!"

"Ashling." I said.

"Right, sorry. Just go and talk to them."

I turned away and gave a 'I guess I should talk to you' look. Ashling smiled and nodded.

"So.... Vamp kid. That's cool." I said, awkwardly starting off the conversation.

"Yeah it is. It really helps me express myself." 

I grinned. "Sweet. You know, I'm actually friends with your leader."

Their eyes lit up. "Really? You know Vampir? That's fucking dope!"

I laughed. "Well I usually call him Mike, but yeah. We're not super close, but he knows my name and let me borrow his phone once, so that's something."

They flashed their pointy teeth at me. "Well any friend of Vampir is a friend of mine!"

Brittany tapped my shoulder. I turned and saw she was holding my mask in front of her proudly. I instantly noticed the difference, and my swear my eyes began to sparkle.

"Oh Brittany!" I squealed. Now glued onto the masks eye covers, were the contacts. It made the mask feel like it actually had life, it was unnerving and even somewhat disturbing. They didn't move, obviously, but they seemed to follow my face anywhere I leaned. 

"Your lucky the eye-holes on that mask are so big, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see through them with these on."

I smiled, and hugged the mask to my chest. "Thanks Britt, it's perfect!" I leaned over and kissed her forehead, making her giggle and elbow me in the shoulder.

While we were laughing, I swear I head Butters mutter from from the front seat "I wish I thought of that..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the original story, a friend made fanart of Butters and Y/n, and imagined them as a Addams family-esque team. So they drew two new characters, which grew into Jade and Ashling. Don't worry, it's fun.


	13. Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epic battle, that maybe lasts ten minutes.
> 
> (TW! Choking)

I pressed my thumb gently onto the blade of the fan, wincing as if pricked my finger and drew blood. Butters says it's custom made, a hand held fabric fan that looks like a dagger when folded, and when spread out revealed to be held up by daggers. It was deadly and beautiful, a dark shade of blue outlined with black lace. I set it down, feeling uneasy about holding it for now.

"Okay, what's the plan?" I whispered to Butters, who was kneeling outside the car, looking around for the heroes who apparently were also looking for us.

"We have to find a way to sneak in the front entrance, that way when they see us it'll be more dramatic and scary." He whispered back, scanning the lines of tree surrounding the blurry hospital. We had stopped pretty far from it to avoid being seen, but in doing so I could barely make out the building, especially in the dark.

"Okay, I get it's my character, and I like being dramatic and scary and all, but why?"

"Yeah, and why am I here? I'm all for watching you dweebs fight, but wouldn't I get in the way?" Brittany added, adding the last few touches to my wig, putting it up in some crazy style.

He adjusted his position, so now he was on his knees, looking directly at us from outside the open car door. "Here's the thing, you know how Coon and Friends is a franchise, and we have a pretty big fanbase?"

"Duh, my little brother Kiyo is obsessed with you guys. Our fridge is covered in his drawings of you and the boys fighting."

"Well, if we want to successfully integrate you into our franchise you need to become a fan favorite really quick, and a leaked video of you being cool and stuff is the perfect way to do it!"

"Ohhhh. I get it." Brittany said, pulling out her silver and pink phone. 

I rose an eyebrow. "What? I don't, what's happening?" I said, looking to both of them for answers.

"We're going to sneak in, and I'm gonna hide and film you acting all super-villainy and then post it on Instagram. Then you get super famous, become popular among the fans, then boom. You're a part of the story line forever." She enunciated, scrolling through her phone.

Butters jaw dropped. "Geez.. Yeah Brittany. You're right. How'd you guess?"

She smirked. "My brain's not just rose colored fluff, I can figure out basic stuff like that!"

I playfully punched Butters shoulder, making sure not to actually hit him hard when I saw he looked embarrassed. "Don't worry hun, you're not stupid, she's just hella smart."

She pulled a pair of heart shaped sunglasses out of her bag and slipped them on over her nose, even though the sun had set almost an hour ago. "You know it!" She laughed.

We all quieted down. After a moments thought I snapped my fingers, a plan forming in my head. "You said we had to sneak in the front? Why can't we do it right now?"

"Because they're watching both entrances, so we can't sneak in either." He explained.

"What about the back?" 

"I don't know. I don't think we could sneak over there from here without being seen."

"Well how can you be sure? We won't know until we try." Brittany interjected. 

"I wouldn't." Jades voice said from besides us. 

We all glanced over at the two kids, Ashling listening to music in his headphones and Jade reading a thick book about Shakespeare. 

"Why?" I asked.

"This is where the Vamp-kids meet sometimes, we keep our bats here. From where we are there's no way to get in the front unless they are all watching from the back of the hospital. Which they're not." She said, not even bothering to look up from the pages.

"How can you tell?" Butters asked.

She pointed out of the window towards the woods. I tried to see what exactly she was pointing at, but there was nothing but trees and shrubs.

"Uhh, what exactly are we looking at here?" Brittany asked, pushing her sunglasses out of her eyes.

She sighed and closed her book with a thump, and pointed again. "The small spruce right by that big pine tree, there's a cloth hanging off it. That's Mysterions cape, I've seen it before."

I gasped as my eyes locked on the small triangle of purple she was talking about. If she hadn't said anything I never would have even noticed it.

"Geez. Good eye!" Butters said, once he saw it too. After a moment he looked away. "If she's right, then we need a way to lure them to the back of the building so we can run in the front, and you two can get ready wherever you need to go." He said, looking at the kids.

"Upstairs. The stairs are only strong enough to hold our weight, and we already know how to jump out of the ceiling, so we'll just do that when we fight " Jade answered him.

"Okay, so we need something loud to get them interested in running to the back, but what?" I pondered. Suddenly something in my mind clicked, and I turned to Brittany. So did Butters. Jade finished whispering the plan in Ashlings ear, and after a moment they looked at her too.

She realized all eyes were on her, and stopped applying her lipstick. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tool Sheds P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all stood outside in the cold, waiting and watching the front entrance of the abandoned hospital. My tool box seemed to be getting heavier and heavier by the second, probably because I was so tired. I know Coon said to get as much rest as I could, but this whole situation kept me up. I don't know why, but for some reason this new villain made me feel weird. I can't explain it.

Human Kite suddenly turned his head and crouched down, his eyes locked on a distant corner of the building. I shook off my emotions and looked in the same direction, something catching my eye besides my team mate.

A group of very small objects went flying through the dark sky, I couldn't have even noticed them if it wasn't for the rest of my team now pointing in their direction and whispering to each other. I hushed them all, and continued to watch where they flew. 

I didn't really see them land, but I know they did. The second they hit the ground they each made a loud popping sound, like someone just stuck a pin in a balloon. Before anyone could react, a loud and girly voice rang out from somewhere.

"Ah! I dropped the firecrackers! Go through the back, quick!" It shrieked. We saw a shadow dash across the grass and behind the hospital, where we could no longer see them.

Mysterion jumped down from the tree behind us and pointed to the building. "After them!"

Without hesitation we all leaped up from our hidden positions and sprinted across the short field towards the back of the hospital. I didn't feel as tired anymore, mostly because I recognized that girls voice. I can't remember from where, but for some reason buffalo wings came to mind when I thought really hard about it. 

We all ran and discovered the back door she had yelled about, wide open. Coon was last to get to the door, for obvious reasons. While he was panting and catching his breath he pointed weakly inside.

"W-what... Are you you waiting for? Get in there!" He gasped. We all ran inside, and through the hallways, trying to catch sight of the girl.

We ran past a flight of stairs, and then an empty elevator shaft. Neither looked safe enough for someone to use, so we disregarded the chance that anyone could ever be hiding above us.

We finally began to slow down to a walk, and we made it to what looked like the front entrance. Standing in the doorway with his back turned to us was professor chaos, but nobody else was around. 

"Chaos." Coon muttered.

He turned his head, and smirked. The second he did thunder clapped behind him. Since when was it raining?

He turned all the way around to face us, his arms crossed in front of him. "Hello Coon and Friends, always nice to see you." 

"Cut the formalities Chaos, what are you doing here?" Mysterion bellowed, his tone dark.

He smiled and shrugged. "Oh I was just setting up a few things for later, and a few things for now. But the question that really needs asking is why you guys look so anxious?"

I glanced around at the team, who all seemed to be much more tense looking than on our average missions. They too were looking around, probably for the mystery villain.

"Pfft. Anxious? What are you talking about?" Mosquito laughed, though he didn't exactly look any less nervous than the rest of us.

The coon groaned. "Alright enough banter, where is he?!" He demanded the professor.

Chaos chuckled. "Oh right, there's someone I'd like you all to meet. Darling, would you please come and join us?"

"Darling?" I thought out loud, my tense muscles loosened slightly from confusion. Before any of the others could say anything, I heard a soft clicking coming from the hallway besides us. Each of us turned, startled by the noise and got into positions better to fight in.

The clicks got sharper, turning into footsteps. As a shadowy figure stepped into the room a gentle chuckle escaped them, sending a chill up my spine,

It held a glowing blue fabric fan out in front of it's face, fanning it towards her to cool herself. The dark blue of the fan melded well with the light blue music notes along the bottom of her skirt, which in the dark looked like hey were just floating in the air around her legs.

Chaos held out his hand, and she strolled over to him, placing her own dainty, gloved fingers into his palm. She moved in closer and dramatically opened it more with a flick of her wrist. 

Chaos pulled her by her hand around him and caught her with his other arm, dipping her and leaning in close to her face, pulling up her mask slightly to revel the lower half of her face. Almost in perfect harmony she held the fan in front of her face, hiding what Chaos did when he leaned in. 

Thunder boomed outside, and lightning flashed. The light it gave off showed the silhouette of their two faces, lips pressed together. Human Kite gasped softly, and the rest of our jaws dropped. 

"T-timmah!" Professor Timmy shouted, shocked.

In a second they were separated, her mask was back on her face and her fan was folded back neatly with another flick.

As she stepped closer, I began to take in exactly what she looked like. She had long flowing white hair that was put into an elaborate style I couldn't quite make out in the dark. Her piercing red eyes shone from under her dramatic mask, a prick of color against her dark and heavy-looking costume, mostly her fur cape.

Butters smiled lovingly at her from behind her for a moment before speaking. "Gentlemen, this is my lovely wife. Though I don't suppose you really need introductions, do you?"

Coon looked from Chaos to her, back and forth, as if trying to piece together what he had just seen. "Dude... What. The. Fuck."

He smirked. "What's the matter Coon? You looked a little unsettled."

"Butters. Who the fuck is that?" He asked loudly. The woman tilted her head a little, the only indication she was surprised, since her mask still was showing a calm and cold smile.

Butters flushed angrily, I assumed because he wasn't happy Cartman was breaking character. But I definitely noticed he looked offended for some reason.

"Hey, don't you dare-!" He began.

The woman held out her pointer finger, shushing him instantly. She stepped forward towards us. She stopped there and stood silently, her legs wide and threateningly strong looking. Her arms crossed out in front of her chest, and her head just barely moving as she looked all of us over.

I would be lying if I said I felt anything other than unsafe. Even though she hasn't really done anything to deserve my small fear, the way she moved and how Butters was suddenly so devotedly defending her stirred something up in my soul.

After what felt like an hour of tense silence, she finally broke the quiet. "Hello again boys." She said.

Her voice was much deeper than I expected, much more husky than the girls I usually talk to. Much different than the girls voice we heard a few minutes ago. Was it a fake voice? It couldn't be, how could a voice that squeaky turn itself into the smooth and chilling voice I was hearing right now? And if it wasn't her voice, whos was it?

My thoughts were interrupted. "...Well?" She asked, clasping her hands together in front of her. "Are any of you going to speak? I can't possibly be expected to carry this conversation all by myself."

Mysterion seemed to snap out of the collective daze the team was sharing. "Who are you?" He asked, his gravelly voice matching hers in it's deepness. 

Butters looked liked he wanted to object, but was cut off by her laughter. It sounded like a giggle, though it was so low it was weird to describe is as one.

"Mysterion, you of all people should remember me. After all, it's your fault i'm even here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was looking down at him, watching in glee as his normally stern and serious face contorted into one of confusion. I waited, glad my mask was hiding my face, since it was now turned into an excited expression from how dramatic and cool I felt. It sounds silly, but I truly feel like a real super villain. Butters introduction helped.

"...You?!" He asked, after a moment of hesitation. I nodded slowly, and very subtly, feeling it was the correct thing to do.

"Who else could it be?" Butters shouted from behind me, as if defending my honor. He was really playing the part of the husband well, acting exactly like I asked. It'd have to make him something as a thank you

I began to pace back and forth before them, making sure to continue staring at them for maximum creepiness. "Well I can understand if you boys don't recognize me, after all, the last time you saw me I wasn't wearing the most flattering of outfits."

No response. Out of reflex I fake pouted, but stopped once I remembered they couldn't see my face. I stopped in front of Eric and bent down slightly since I was now taller than him, my arms folded behind me. "Aw, you really don't remember me Coon? Without you I wouldn't even have a name."

I could see he was wracking his brain for an answer, then a twinge of memory sparked in his eyes. I briefly took my eyes off of him to the rest of the team, and noticed that Wonder Tweek was shaking, even more than normal. I tried to ignore it, but I recognized this kind of jumpiness was what he did when he was feeling anxious. Usually when he wanted to say something, but couldn't for some reason.

I sighed. "It you're having trouble, why don't you ask one of your little friends? At least two people here remember me."

Eric laughed condescendingly. "Really? And who would that be?" He sneered.

"Well, Mysterion for one."

He scoffed. "I already knew that, but no one else here knows, right guys?" He asked, turning around to his team. Tweek began to raise his hand, but before anyone could realize Eric turned back around and attention was now fully back on me.

"See? No one."

I titled my head, more than I needed to look unnerving. "For a leader you certainty don't know your team very well." I widened my stance and pointed to Tweek. "I believe Wonder Tweek knows exactly what's going on." 

He shot up in surprise when I said his name, and his twitching got more intense. The boys all looked back at him, their questioning stares making his anxious movements worsen. 

"Uh! I-I don't.... I m-mean, I know w-who she is!" He chirped, freaking out.

"You do?" Stan asked. 

He nodded, jerking his head up and down. "Yeah, remember?! We-E all met h-her on the roof of the U-store-it Warehouse, she almost m-mugged Mysterion, remember?"

I could practically see the light bulbs click on over their heads.

"There we go." I said, like a teacher to a bunch of small children.

Eric chuckled, getting back into his character. "I honestly didn't think you would show your face in South Park again, Operaette."

I smiled, seeing my opportunity to be sassy. "Well technically I'm not, if you haven't noticed, I try not to reveal my identity. Though I don't suppose you boys understand that concept, do you?"

Butters snorted behind me, surprised by my little quip. Cartman narrowed his eyes, being the easily annoyed person he was. "And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing at all. It's just that half of your team do not even wear masks, so I assume you don't understand the meaning of the term "Secret identity"."

"A-Are you im-impl-plying you know who we are?" Fast-pass asked.

Oh god I guess I did. 'Quick y/n say something witty.' I thought.

"No, but one can only guess it doesn't take that much effort." I said coolly.

'That's a load of bullshit, but it sounds fancy.' I realized. Damn, my improv skills were getting better.

Eric seemed to take high offense to that. "What?! We've been out on these scummy streets fighting crime for years, and you just walk up and criticize our costumes?!"

"Yeah! And for your information, no one has ever guessed our identity!" Mosquito shouted.

"Oh, so people have tried?" 

That set Mosquito off, and now him and the coon were both ranting. The rest of their team looked a bit annoyed, either by me or their own teammates. I couldn't tell.

"Enough." Mysterion growled. Even though I knew under his hood was the friendly guy who drew dicks in the fresh paint in art class with his finger, his tone was enough to make me forget. I almost stumbled back, but I actively avoided it, not wanting to destroy the image I had just made for myself.

He turned and sneered at me, for some reason it kind of hurt my feelings. "Okay, enough of this. What are you two doing here?"

Butters stepped up next to me, his arms crossed just like mine. I realized I was actually taller than him in my heels, making me feel even more intimidating. "I need a new base now that I officially have a partner in crime, and my sweetheart suggested here."

"Yes, is there a problem with us doing that?" I asked the boys. God it felt weird using this voice.

They all glanced at one another. "Wait, that's it?" Tupperware asked, befuddled.

"Of course. What do you take us for, villains?"

"But aren't you two literally.... Never mind. We still have to fight you." Human kite said, after a moments hesitation.

"Yeah. It doesn't matter if you're innocent right now, you're a villain and we have to treat you like one." Mysterion said, glaring up at me.

I cocked my head, pressing my palms against each other in front of me. "Oh, fighting. Revolting, mindless violence against one another, the ball and chain keeping humanity from moving forward."

I sighed dreamily and turned towards Butters. "That sounds lovely right now, don't you think?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's been too long since we've done something as a family."

When I turned back towards my friends I noticed they all had different indescribable emotions on their faces. Mostly confusion, but hints of something else entirely too.

"...What?....." Eric finally asked. 

We ignored him. I stepped slightly out of the room and cleared my throat.

"Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol...!" I sang into the darkness.

After a moment something echoed back. "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol..!" Two little voices sang in perfect harmony.

I stepped back more into the room, and noticed out of the corner of my eye everyone looked even more confused, as well as worried. I continued,

"Sol, Fa, Mi, Re, Do...!"

"Sol, Fa, Mi, Re, Do...!" They repeated, now sounding closer and louder.

I smiled under my mask, proud that they were following directions so well. 

"Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do...!" I sang loudly, stepping back into place besides Butters. I heard their footsteps above us.

"Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do...!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Super Craigs P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I crouched in silence, slightly worried over what was happening. This random chick appears out of nowhere with a brand new costume and personality, and Butters is head over heels in love with her. Now she's singing and something from somewhere is repeating her, like she has control over them.

I heard a noise from above me, and looked up. One of the ceiling covers was moving slightly, and with it came down dust onto me and a few others. Tweek noticed it immediately, and began rapidly trying to swat it away from him, twitching, panicked. 

Suddenly everything was silent as the Operaette finished her notes. She stood perfectly still, waiting for the response.

"Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do...!" 

They finally repeated her, from right above us. I reflexively stepped back and looked up, so did the rest of the team. Suddenly a part of the ceiling fell to the ground between me and Tweek with a thunk, And before anyone could say anything two figures dropped out of it.

They landed on their feet onto the floor, and I realized they were in a lot shorter than us. Even Jimmy, who was only the same height a Y/n practically toward over them. One glared at me, and I realized it was maybe seven at the most. It had pink hair and skin the same color as snow, with sunken eyes and an emotionless expression.

"Hey, you two are Vamp-kids." I said, realizing I had definitely seen their styles before.

The team got a better look at them, and then pulled back when the pink one spoke. "You called us, mother?" She said, her voice in an unbreaking monotone. She looked at the Operaette as she said it, ignoring our presence completely.

The Operaette nodded slowly. "Yes. Say hello to our guests, Coon and friends. They wish to fight us."

They looked away from her and towards the team again. "Hello Coon and Friends." They repeated. They sounded like little robots.

Coon put the pieces together in his mind. "Wait, you seriously want us to fight these Vamp-douches?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't even be a fight since they're so small." Human Kite added.

The pink one furrowed her brow at this, though I don't think anyone else noticed since it was such a small change. For some reason i'm pretty good at identifying emotions, even though I don't usually show mine. 

The Operaette didn't respond to our criticisms, instead turning to her 'children'. "Ignore him my dears. Now go on, play."

"Listen to your mother, you kids need to spend more time being destructive forces of nature with the rest of the family." Chaos agreed.

The taller one with white hair sighed. "Okay, okay...." They said, like a kid who didn't want to do their homework. 

"Good. Now,..." She said, opening her fan with a swish. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I noticed that the ends of her fan were very... sharp. Like daggers.

"Let's dance, shall we?" 

She suddenly and gracefully bent herself lower into a fighting stance, one arm out to keep her balance and the other holding her fan vertical to her face, showing off the gleaming and pointed inside props of the fan that kept it up.

Yup. Her fan was made of daggers.

After a moments hesitation Coon rushed at her. She leaped out of the way just before he could hit her, and she took the opportunity to crouch down and kick him in the back of his knees, making him topple over. 

"Ah, you bitch! Your stupid heels fucking hurt!" Coon groaned from the ground, clutching his legs.

She hopped over him and prepared herself for the next attacker, but I couldn't see what happened next because the taller vamp-kid appeared in front of me, hurling themselves at me.

From there it was a flurry of limbs coming at me from every direction, I stopped trying to fight back and started just focusing on blocking this kids attacks, which were so infrequent I could never guess where the attacks were coming from.

I finally couldn't take any more blows, and punched the kid in the stomach. They seemed shocked, but thankfully they didn't start crying or anything. I honestly don't know what I would do if they did.

They stood up and bounced over to the Operaette, who was fending off Jimmy by spinning with the fan outstretched in front of her, so he would get cut up from any direction if he tried to attack.

They stopped about ten feet away from their unapproachable mom. "Mother!" They cried. "He hit me!" They said, pointing to me.

Chaos sped towards them, and knocked Jimmy back away from her. She calmly walked over to her and squatted down next to them. Her heels made her so tall she still was about the same height as the kid. 

"Oh darling, no one likes a tattletale. You must learn to settle these things yourself." 

"Okay mother..." They started to turn away but stopped. Something crossed their mind. "Mother, can the babies come out and play with us?"

She tapped the chin of her mask. Before I could hear what she said the pink one barreled towards me, a knife in each hand and a twisted grin on her face. I just barely dodged her. 

'Maybe I shouldn't keep standing around like this, these kids are more dangerous than they look.' I thought.

She spun around to face Tweek and Token, who were carefully trying to approach her and get the knives away from her. She threw a knife at Token, who ducked in time to see it stick in the stone wall behind him. 

"Screw this, I'll go fight the one without any knives!" He said.

I watched him go, but while I was distracted Chaos ran at me, his hammer in hand. I actually knew how to handle him though, since years of fighting mostly just him really made his attacks much less surprising. I yanked on his cape, and when he dipped along with it I punched his jaw.

We started fighting, dodging each others fists and kicks, and sometimes not. I was too invested in avoiding being hit I didn't even notice each of the kids had stopped fighting and were now standing in the middle of the room together. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The babies?" I whispered in their ear. Ashling nodded. 

"That's what we call our bats, I think it could be cool to release them right now!"

"As long as they don't have rabies." I said, cutting Human kites string with my fan when he tried to kick me from behind. When they started to leave I stopped them. "Oh, and nice idea of calling me mother, really makes you two seem creepier." 

"Thanks, it was my idea. We figured since you and Mr. Butters were married, we should be your kids." They beamed. They paused, than looked at me straight in the eye.

"I'll go get them, just be careful. They might want to nest in your hair." I nodded and started to turn when they dashed off, but felt a pair of hands reach around my throat and tighten, looking up I realized they belonged to the Coon. 

Out of panic I leaped up from my crouched position and while doing so his grip on me loosened slightly, though I still couldn't pry off his fingers. I felt the adrenaline kick in and my body automatically did what it always did when I was panicked. I began to sing. 

It sounded sucky, mostly because I was GETTING CHOKED. But I couldn't stop. It was a random tune from a Disney princess movie. I don't know why, maybe because I had just marathoned all the Disney movies. 

I gave up on trying to even sing it, and just hummed the best I could. I still clawed at his hands, I turned and saw Butters in a fight with Craig, each of them appeared to be battling in perfect sync with each other. I might have been impressed if my vision wasn't going blurry.

The kids were in the middle of the room, standing back to back. They each pulled a shiny pipe out from their respective pockets, and blew into them. I couldn't hear the sound they made, and I felt my knees give out from under me. The only thing holding me up was his hands.

I hummed loudly and reached upwards to the ceiling, my movements slowing. At that moment the hole in the ceiling exploded with a black mass of chittering squeaks and leathery wings. 

They swarmed the room, not biting anyone as far as I could tell but certainly startling everyone. Cartman dropped me and swatted at the air. I fell to the cold floor, my breathing returning to me in quick uneven chokes.

I looked up to Cartman, who was looking around at the bats, then back to me, horrified.

"Did you just...?!" He shouted, backing away from me. 

"Darling!" Butters called to me, racing over while his opponents were desperately trying to escape the swarm of bats. He fell to the floor next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, his eyes filled with worry and anger. 

"Are you okay my sweet? What did he do to you?!" 

After a moment I got a hold of my breathing and steadied myself, standing up with relative ease and helping Buttters up along with me. I found my fake voice and got back into character.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cartmans P.O.V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was clawing at the air, somehow missing the stupid bats every time. I ducked onto the floor and covered my head with my arms. Heroically of course.

The Operaette stood up slowly, and dusted herself off, as if I hadn't just been choking her. She spoke, and her voice sounded the same as it did before I attacked her. 

"Oh darling, i'm feeling wonderful. I just wished it could have lasted a little longer."

'It didn't even effect her?' I thought, my head spinning. 

A bat landed in her hair, and looked directly at me. Like it understood exactly what I was, and what I was doing. It creeped me the fuck out. I looked at my team.

Super Craig, Wonder Tweek and Tupperware were huddled in a clump on one side of the room, trying to hit the bats. Toolshed was in another corner, alone and holding one of his power drills, as if that would do anything. Fast pass was trying to outrun the bats, but just kept running into more. Doctor Timothy was sitting where he was before, but covered in his blanket. Everyone else was on the ground, away from the swarm.

As looked at my team. 'God, they look like a bunch of Pussies!' I thought. Then something dawned on me. I was on the floor, just like them. 

"Oh my god..." I whispered. "I look like a pussy." 

I had enough. We can't let ourselves be defeated like this. I had to get us out of here.

"Retreat! Retreat!" I yelled. The team immediately ran towards the exit. I ran after them, and when I was down the hall I stopped for breath. Not because I'm out of shape or anything, I just wanted to ensure the safety of my team and fight them off in case they tried to follow us. Duh.

I looked back at them. The kids were now standing in front of their 'parents', who in turn had their hands on their shoulders. Operaette tilted her head, and waved to me lazily. The bats had all calmed down, and were hanging from the ceiling. 

As I ran away I couldn't help but think they really did look like a family. A fucked up, demented, stupid powerful family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cartman skittered down the hallway and out of sight. We waited a solid two minutes in silence before Brittany popped out from behind the counter, phone in hand.

"Sooo. That was something." She said, stepping out from behind it.

"Yeah. That was intense. More intense than I think I realized it would be." I replied, slipping my mask up over my head.

Butters stepped out in front of me. "Seriously Y/n, are you okay?! I'm so sorry I couldn't help you in time, gosh your throat must be bruising by now-!" He ranted, moving a piece of my wig out of the way to look at my neck.

I pushed him away slightly, and held his hands in mine. "Butters i'm okay. I feel fine, and my throat is not bruising." 

He still looked nervous. "How can that be true? He held you up by your neck, there's gotta be some kind of damage."

I shrugged, and felt my throat to check. It felt fine, even putting pressure on it didn't feel any different from normal. "Feels fine." I said.

He looked unsure, but I patted his head and smiled. "I promise you, if I did get hurt I would tell you."

PING!

I looked over at Brittany, who's phone had just rang. She tapped something on her screen, and her eyes widened. 

She quickly walked over to us, her eyes still glued to her phone. "I hate to interrupt you love birds, but you really need to see this!"

She shoved her phone in my face, and when my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness I realized it was a post on some sort of social media.

"Instagram." I read. She made a face and laughed.

"What have you never seen an Instagram post before?" She asked, probably jokingly. I scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed. Butters looked at me as if to say, "Really?"

I nodded, and he also made a face. Though his was much more intrigued than confused.

"Y/n, I literally posted this five minutes ago, just read it!" Brittany ordered.

I leaned in closer, below the video I assumed was of the fight was a block of text covered in emojis. "OMG! I was at the #abandonedhospital in #southpark , and I accidentally ran into the #Coonandfriends !!!! I think there's a new villain, and she's @ ProfessorChaos wife!"

I looked below the text, where a number in the hundreds was growing. My eyes widened. "Holy shit is that the amount of people who have seen this?!"

Butters looked over my shoulder and gasped. He grabbed the phone out of her hands.

"Oh my gosh, look at this! Y/n, people already love you!" He yelped, thrusting the phone back into my hands.

I looked to the comments. "Wow look at that costume, she's definitely a step up from the other villains." "Do you think those kids are really hers? She looks to young to be giving birth!" "Okay, who gave this random lady a fan made out of knives???" "Can we get an F in the chat for Coon and friends? She utterly destroyed them."

I felt my eyes well up with tears. These people really liked my character, and it suddenly dawned on me I was playing the biggest part of my life, and I had fans. 

The kids were each on their own phones, looking for the post. "Hey look, #Operaette is trending in South Park." Jade said, staring down at her screen.

"Neat!" Butters said, then turned back to me. "People are already theorizing on your backstory! They think you're in control of me or something." He laughed.

I laughed too. "Let them think whatever they want, it probably makes me even more mysterious."

I caught sight of the time on Brittanys phone. 2:00 am. My jaw dropped, and I jumped, startling Ashling who was standing right next to me. 

"Oh shit! I have to get home, Butters can you drive us back to town?" I asked, anxiously messing with my hair.

He nodded. "I'll drop you off a couple blocks from your house, then the rest of you." 

I quirked an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

He grinned at me. "Because your mom would freak out if some guy in a white van dropped you off at your house. You're gonna get in enough trouble as it is."

I blinked. "... Damn. You think of everything."

He flushed at my complement. "T-thanks..."

Brittany snapped her manicured fingers in front of our faces. Butters snapped out of his daze and fumbled around for his keys. "Y-yeah, lets go!"

I giggled at how goofy he was, and followed him out of the building and into the night, holding Jade and Ashlings hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter is old, but I still kinda like it.


	14. Silent night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet night, so quiet you can barely hear her sobs.

I waved goodbye to the van as it drove away, watching as it disappeared over a hill. I sighed, finally feeling calm now that I was alone. I looked upwards at the sky, and noticed with joy that the stars were very prominent tonight. I smiled and thought about my day, and what the future would hold for the Operaette and I.

I ripped my eyes off the dreamy sky to the sound of someone crying. it was high-pitched and unmistakably a child's cry. I found myself following the sound, my heart beginning to pound in my chest. Panic was flooding my senses, as I began to walk faster and faster, trying to find the source of such grief.

As I turned the corner I finally saw her. It was a tiny girl hugging a streetlight, like if she were to let go something terrible would happen. She was shaking violently, and somehow sobbing while also hyperventilating. I timidly approached her, making sure not to scare her.

"Little girl? Are you okay?" I asked in a soft voice.

Despite my intentions of not frightening her, she still jumped up and swung around the pole. She was still holding onto it, but now it sort of shielded her from me. 

I backed up slightly and lowered myself, trying to seem as delicate as possible. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you!" I said in my regular voice.

She peeked out from behind the metal pole. "W-who are you..?" She asked, still shaking like a leaf.

I wanted to make her comfortable first, so I stepped closer so she could get a better look st me in the street light. I was still wearing my mask and entire villain garb, so I could understand if she was freaked out by my outline in the darkness.

Before I could say my name, her eyes went wide and she peeked more from the pole. "Are... are you a guardian angel?"

I definitely wasn't expecting that. But she looked so hopeful, I couldn't say no. 

"Uh... how did you guess?" 

She smiled a little, her breathing starting to calm. "Your outfit. I have a guardian angel, he protects me, and he dresses funny too."

I smiled, deciding to play along, and crouched down. "Ah yes. That's why i'm here. Your angle couldn't get here in time, so i'm here instead to lead you to safety."

She came all the way out from behind the pole, though she was still loosely holding onto it. "Really? I have two guardian angels?"

I nodded. "That's right. I'm the back up, I'm here just in case your other angel is backed up in traffic."

Her eyes sparkled as she giggled childishly. "That's silly!"

I extended out my hand to her. "Now, can you tell me what happened?"

She took it immediately, and I leaned against the pole. "Uh-huh. I was walking home from school when a bunch of girl in my class started to follow me. I didn't want to bother them so I walked a different way, but they stayed behind me. I kept going the wrong way so they would leave me alone, but when they were gone I was lost..." At the end she started tearing up again.

I wiped her tears. "That's not very fun. What grade are you in?"

She sniffed. "2nd." 

In the lamp-light I saw that she was a dirty blonde, her hair up in two pigtails. Her face was somewhat dirty, along with her clothes. Her shoes were like my sneakers, very, very worn. Her jeans were even a bit too small for her, and ended at her ankles. Thank god her socks were long enough to protect her from the cold.

Speaking of, "Would you like me to lead you back home?"

She perked up. "Yes please..."

"Do you know your address?"

She thought for a moment. "635....(street/name) avenue."

'....That's really close to my house.' I thought. I swallowed my surprise. "Great! We can get there in no time."

She looked down at the ground for a moment, as if shy to ask something. I brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face that fell when she tilted her head. "What's the matter?"

"...Can you carry me please? I'm really tired."

Carry her? I could barely carry myself in these heels. But... she did look tired. I held back a sigh and crouched down in front of her. She climbed onto my back, and hooked her legs around my waist. She buried her chin into my shoulder, which would have been super uncomfortable had it not been for the fur-cape.

I wobble a bit at first on the sidewalk, but then got accustomed to the extra weight. I was comfortable in the silence, but the girl soon broke it.

"Wow, you're really tall miss."

I chuckle. "It's the high heels. That's what they're for."

She leaned slightly to get a look at my shoes. Even in the pale light the few streetlights gave off, my shoes were still very obviously shiny. I also noticed that the white music notes on my skirt were now glowing blue, an added detail that made me smile under my mask. Butters really did know my style.

"Ooh! I like your clothes. Don't tell my other angel this, but I like your outfit much more than his!" 

I laughed. "I promise to never say a word."

"Miss?"

"Yes?"

"What's your name?"

"Oh! I did forget to tell you, didn't I? It's well, um, .... complicated."

She latched her arms gently around my neck, getting more comfortable. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me miss. My other angel didn't tell me his name either."

I shrugged, careful not to disturb her. "My only job right now is to help you, so you can call me whatever you like."

She yawned, her hot breath seeping through the fur and onto my shoulder. "Okay miss."

We walked the rest of the way idly talking about random things. She got more and more tired as I walked, and soon her little body was practically asleep. Though she was still clutching my shoulders, so I could only assume she was still awake.

I finally arrived to the house, in the dark I could barely make out the surrounding area. It was pretty run down from what I could tell, and surrounding it were pieces of what might once have been a building. It all seemed familiar, but for some reason I couldn't place why. 

I gently set her down on the steps and ruffled her hair. "You have a good night now, and just remember that we will always keep you safe."

I began to knock on the door, but she yanked down on my cape. "Miss! My name is Karen by the way, in case you want to talk about me to your angle friends."

I chuckled and nodded. "I know." 

I quickly knocked and rushed off into the night, somehow not tripping over myself in the process.

'That poor kid...' I thought. 'But at least she's safe now.'

I began walking normally again now that I was out of everyone's sight. Thinking about random things. Tomorrow Mr. Blackwell would announce the part I got. He was supposed to do it a few days ago, but he was sick so now I have to wait until Monday. The wait was agony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kenny's P.O.V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stepped out of the closet, now back into my pajamas (which was just my parka and some shorts). My costume was once again crammed back into the back of the shared closet, underneath all my old school papers, where no one would ever look. Though something felt off. I heard yelling from downstairs in the living room.

Yelling wasn't a new thing in my house, but this seemed different. I realized that Karen and Kevin weren't in the room. I flipped on the light switch, and I noticed Kevins sheets pulled up slightly, like if he was in bed and got up for some reason. Karens was untouched, just they way it was when she made it this morning. 

Something felt wrong. I left my bedroom and hurried down the stairs, where I saw mom and dad arguing in the living room. Kevin was standing at our land-line, calling someone. He sounded freaked out, and kept yelling out Karens name into the phone.

'Karen?' I thought. 'What's happened to Karen?'

Finally mom noticed me on the stairs, and came running to me. "Kenny! You gotta go out with your dad and brother, Karen never came home!"

I froze. My heart beat quickened. "What...?" I asked dumbfounded.

Mom got louder. "Karen Kenny! She never came home from school, and the police won't go looking!"

All the terrible things that could have happened to her began flashing in my head. Lots involved blood, and tears, and,.... oh god. I began to run towards the door, prepared to run out into the darkness and track her down.

A knock stopped me. Three quick knocks, and then some rustling as if someone was sprinting away. I opened the door and was met with a red eyed Karen. Relief flooded my body as I picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"Don't do that again...." I mumbled. She nodded and hugged me back.

Mom pushed me away from Karen and grabbed her shoulders. "Oh baby you're home! Where were you?!"

Karen sniffed. I listened and made myself busy by closing the door behind her. 

"I got lost.... I didn't know where I was so I stayed at a light waiting for my guardian angel to come and help me."

Guilt swept my body. I slipped on my hood and tightened the strings. 

Mom sighed. "Baby you can't trust that he's always gonna be there. Next time you're gonna hafta try and find your way home yourself."

I nodded. But Karen interrupted. "But mom! An angel did rescue me!" 

Even dad looked confused. "But you just said....."

"No, no. It was a different angel. It was a girl angel! She was really tall, and she had super long hair and a black fluffy cape!"

Mom and dad glanced at each other. Dad took a swig of his beer before responding. "That's.... interesting. You should probably go to bed." He said, avoiding the topic.

Even if he could have said it nicer, I nodded. So did Kevin, who had hung up with whoever he was talking to, I assume the police. 

"Okay." Karen said sleepily. I held her hand and led her up the stairs. Following a very tired Kevin, who immediately passed out on his bed. I got into bed too, but something kept bothering me as Karen turned off the light and got into her own bed against the other wall.

I sat up and looked over at her. She was awake, and staring out the window at the half moon. I leaned back onto the bare mattress. My folded arms cushioning my scruffy head.

Finally I spoke. "Hey Karen?"

She responded immediately. "Yeah?"

"That angel you mentioned, what did she look like?"

She giggled softly. "Why do you wanna know Kenny?"

"Reasons." 

"...Well, she had really long hair. It was white and it had a couple flowers in it." 

It clicked in my mind the the Operaettes up-do was full of flowers. I began getting more and more curious.

"Anything else?"

I heard her shift around in her bed. "Uh-huh. She wasn't like my other angel, she had real life magic!"

"...What?"

She giggled. "She had these blue music signs floating around her legs, and her eyes glowed red. She looked like a fairy, but without the wings."

'Okay, that definitely sounds like the Operaette. But... it couldn't be, why would she help out Karen?'

" ...'Night Karen." I said, still confused. 

"'Night Kenny." She yawned.

I stayed awake for longer than I usually do, and only fell asleep at around 3 am. Which, surprisingly, i'm usually responsible enough to not do. 

'Is she really not a bad guy?' I pondered. 

My mind was full of questions and no answers. I eventually just gave up and drifted off into a hazy and still-confused sleep.


	15. Sickly soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although you are a super villain already known for her cruelty, you are also super sensitive. Like, way too sensitive. Girl how do you survive?

BRRRIIINNG!

The school bell rang, and I stepped out of my Social Studies classroom, my second-hand books in my arm. Mrs. Grey waved good-bye to me right before the door swung shut. I walked steadily to my locker, feeling my excitement well up inside me as I remembered I had Drama next.

I quickly dug through my messy locker, putting away my stuff, my head swarming with thoughts. Suddenly Cartman came running up to his locker, he fumbled with it's silver lock and violently pulled it open. He swung his heavy back-pack into it, making a loud thump as whatever was inside his bag hit the metal bottom.

Finally he looked at me, as if he hadn't noticed me until now. I was staring at him curiously, and immediately noticed just how tired he looked. He had dark bags under his eyes, and it looked like he tossed and turned all night, then didn't brush his hair. 

I closed my locker and continued looking at him, waiting for him to say something. I usually would have started the conversation, but the grumpy look on his face told me if anything was to be said right now, it should be said by him.

"What?" He snapped, eventually. I almost sighed in relief, but stopped myself.

I played with my hair and ignored his rude question. "Are you just now getting to school? First period's over already."

He scoffed. "Good. I didn't have to spend anytime with those gay-wads in class today."

We began walking down the hall. I knew without even thinking that he was referring to the boys. "Well actually, those "Gay-wads" didn't show up to class either. In fact the class was only half full." 

He rubbed his eyes, and furrowed his eyebrows. "Those stupid...." He began under his breath. He groaned and rubbed his eyes again, as if it helped him think. 

Of course, I knew why they didn't show up yet, and why Cartman looked so tired. They hadn't gotten any rest last night after their fight with me and Butters, and now they all ended up sleeping in and missing their bus. 

I couldn't blame them, i'd have done the same thing if I was in their position. I only got five or so hours of sleep, but it was enough for me to actually wake up at least a little refreshed.

“Those stupid who?” I asked. I don’t know why, I guess just to push his buttons.

He groaned to himself. “No one. Is it lunchtime yet?”

I shook my head. “Nah, that’s not for awhile."

"...Hey, are you okay? You seem really out of it.” I asked, now feeling genuine concern over Erics state.

Instead of answering he just grumbled at me. I patted his shoulder, keeping it there. “I didn’t get a ton of sleep either. My little brother woke me up in the middle of the night talking about this new villain he heard about.”

That wasn’t a lie, a few hours after I fell asleep he did wake me up with news about the Operaette. How he found out about her will forever be a mystery.

Cartman looked at me, surprised. “Wait, what?! How did-?!..... I mean, uh, awesome,” He said, catching himself.

“Yeah, I heard she’s pretty cool. At least by my brothers standards.” I said, holding back my cockiness. 

He cleared his throat. “How old is your brother?”

“Four, but he’s pretty smart so he’s enrolled in Kindergarten already.”

“Four? How does he know about her?!” He asked, looking confused and enraged.

I shrugged. “I dunno, but I heard some girl posted a video on Instagram of her fighting Coon and friends.”

He ran his fingers exasperatedly through his unkempt hair. “How did-?! ….. Did you see any of it?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t have a phone.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank fuck…”

I giggled. “I kinda want to see it though, I heard the Coon and friends totally lost.”

He froze, and I realized I should get out of there quick before he got defensive. I looked around for an escape, my eyes locking on a door a few feet away. 

“Alright I have to pee, I’ll see you later!” I said, pulling my hand away from his shoulder and walking quickly over to the girls room. I picked a random stall and sighed, feeling a little bit down for some reason. I finished and went to the sink to wash my hands next to some other girl, feeling at least a little soothed by the warm-ish water.

Wendy walked out of the bathroom stall behind me. I saw in the mirror she looked excited when she noticed I was there. She casually came up to the sink next to me as the girl dried her hands with paper towels and began to wash her hands along side me.

She looked at me in the mirror, and I looked back. Our eyes met. A silent signal for me to stay so we could talk. The other random girl in the bathroom left, and Wendy waited until she was completely out into the hallway before she spoke.

She turned to me, a big dopey grin on her face. “Y/n, have you heard about the new villain in South Park?”

I tried to hide my shock. Wendy was into this type of stuff? Or was she just online a lot and saw what everyone was posting about me? 

I decided to just tell the truth. Sort of. “Yeah I think I do, The Operaette or something?”

She clapped her hands together. “Yup that’s her! Did you see the video that girl posted on Instagram? She’s so cool! Whatever tools she’s using to work with Chaos are totally working!”

I rose an eyebrow. “What tools? Sorry, I didn’t see the actual video, I just heard my little brother talking about her.” That wasn’t completely a lie either, this morning he was yammering on about them and their team work.

She brightened, as if she’s been wanting to geek out about her all day. “Apparently, she has real life powers. In the video she sang and summoned a swarm of bats! Can you believe that?!” She asked excitedly.

“No way!” I said dumbly. “How did she get those powers?”

“That’s the really interesting part, no one knows her backstory! A lot of people have been theorizing online, but so far they’re just that, theories. That’s probably why South Park is so obsessed with her right now, she just leaves everyone wanting answers.” 

People were really this into the character? I held back a smile, not wanting to look too suspicious, especially around someone as clever as Wendy. “Wow, she’s really that mysterious? What do you think her backstory is?”

She cleared her throat and pulled out her purple-cased phone, flipping through whatever social media feed she needed. While she scrolled she spoke, her tone rich with interest.

“I personally think she was once a popular actress, but she was replaced because she wasn't considered cute enough because of her abuse injuries, which is why she wears the mask. Now she is trying to collect up an army to get revenge on the people who hurt her."

I blinked. “Wow… that’s...uh,… pretty creative. How’d you come up with that?”

She glanced down, looking embarrassed. “Well...I technically didn’t come up with it. A team of artists on Youtube made this video about her, and they came up with the idea. Look!” She said, handing me the phone. It was a video. 

After a moment of loading, a song began to play. It sounded kinda old, the female vocalist sounded distant and had that way of speaking that just screamed “it’s the 1940’s”. The main instruments were horns, adding on to the old-timey aesthetic.

Black curtains pulled open, and revealed a very intimidating picture of The Operaette. It didn’t really have that much animation, she was just snapping her gloved fingers, but the amount of detail put into those two frames looked great, even better than the real deal in my opinion. (Song)

“Long Long Time ago,”

"I had my own little show."

"Was a beautiful,"

"Lovable,"

"Angel."

It changed to a picture of an ordinary looking boy on a stage, dancing simply in step to the rhythm.

"But he took the spotlight, shining so bright."

"Left me to fade away..."

"But honey, now the turn is Mine....." A still image of The Operaette standing behind the curtain, tears in her eyes. She didn't look anything like me, a huge nasty scar ran across her nose, and she had a shiny black eye. She suddenly looked very determined, and placed her mask over her face. 

"A devil made from heaven and sent from above."

"Looks like Henrys got a little date," A shot of the full Coon and Friends team standing in front of me.

"Let's have some fun." A shot of my very sinister looking mask.

"We've got 'lots to do little errand boy,"

"come to me at cloud nine." A new shot of me standing before Professor Chaos, who looked angry.

"To be the perfect angel, some sin must be done." I then stepped closer to him and the screen went dark.

"You......"

"Told me what to do and what to say," A very meek looking me without the mask being yelled at by a director.

"I couldn't escape."

"You......"

"Got to choose the ending of my fate." Me on my knees begging the director.

"You put me astray." He shoved me aside, right into the arms of a very looking angry looking man. I started crying and the screen went black.

"But not anymore!" I stood behind Professor Chaos, who's face was contorted into a pained grimace and had his hands covering his ears, like he was trying to block me out.

"I'm in control!" I removed his hands away from his head, and he instantly looked more relaxed.

"I have the stage, You can't,"

"Turn the page...."

"All eyes on me!" I stood before the team again, this time they all looked very scared. I opened my fan as another "All eyes on me!" echoed in the background.

"Ba-da bap bap, bap bap ba doo ba da." I sang, somehow looking very scary while doing so.

"So many experiments," I was singing on a stage.

"So many mistakes." A light bulb broke.

"But i'll go all the way," I was singing again, this time in my mask.

"'till I'm in perfect shape!" A swarm of bats appeared out of nowhere and covered the screen.

"First the worst, maybe third's the charm!"

"So close oh, I cannot wait!"

"The demon won't taint me now," A still image of me, looking very smug.

"cus you're the sacrifice he'll slay." Professor Chaos appeared in front of me, protectively covering me with his arm.

"You...." The director again, and me with tears in my eyes.

"Said I wasn't good enough to stay." 

"You put me away!" He pointed at an open door, with the angry man waiting for me.

"You....."

"Took away my future and my fame..." A silhouette of me and the angry man, his hand in the air, and me with my hands out in front of me, trembling.

"But now that will change." The screen went black and it was just my silhouette, calm and collected.

"Focus on me!..." The kids stood in front of me, looking terrified. 

"I'll be all that they see!" The kids now had the same look of relaxation that Professor Chaos did.

"I'll make 'em sway, no can't run away!" They were hugging my legs as an evil smile adorned my face.

"Now, All eyes on me!" I sang, patting Ashlings head while looking directly into the camera.

As the music continued the original video played, taken straight from Brittanys Instagram. It was edited in such a way that it only showed clips where it was just me fighting, even though the original was mostly just the heroes. It ended on a still drawing of me on the floor, beaten and bloody.

"You....." 

"Don't know what it's like to drown away,"

"In a puddle of shame."

"You...."

"Yes, you,"

"Made me"

"INSANE!" I was smiling, unhinged in the same position, but now an army of faceless people with the same relaxed expression stood behind me in the background.

The screen was black again, and it went back to me snapping.

"But not anymore!"

"I'm in control!"

"I have the stage, you can't turn the page...!"

"Now, do as you're told!" 

"(encore hit the beat boys!)" I sang to the team of heroes, whom all looked terrified just like the kids.

"Focus on me!" I sang to them. They tried to run away, but my "family" blocked the doorway.

"I'll be, all that they see...!" I approached the cornered heroes.

"I'll make 'em sway, no can't, run away...!" I sang to the boys, who now had their ears covered.

"Now, all eyes on me!" They all at once fell into the same relaxed expression.

"Now all eyes on, all eyes on me.......!" They parted like the red sea, and at the last "me!" There was a split second of me and Professor Chaos kissing. 

The video ended, and Wendy took her phone away from me, looking to me excitedly waiting for my response. I closed my mouth, realizing I was slack-jawed.

".....Wow. Didn't the Operaette just show herself last night? How did they make it in less than 24 hours?!!" I asked in genuine awe.

Wendy looked disappointed, probably because I wasn't even focusing on the point of the video. "Well like I said, it was made by a team of animators." She quickly slipped her phone into her coat pocket. "But anyways, what did you think of the theory? Does it seem likely to you?"

I nodded not knowing what else to do. "I guess it would explain the mask, but why would she have kissed Professor Chaos?" I asked, feeling a twinge of sadness that everyone assumed I was mean enough to curse Butters and the kids like that. 

Wendy eyes lit up. "Oh, that's a good question! Maybe she could only keep him under her spell if she kept acting like she truly was in love with him.... Or maybe she really does love him, but the only way to make him love her back is through her powers..."

Wendy snapped out of her daze. "Oh Y/n, there could be so many options! You know what, let's have a sleepover at your house, just us girls so we can all really discuss it!"

I smiled, at least a little happy I could hang out with the girls. "Yeah that sounds like fun! When should we do it?"

Wendy thought for a moment. "Well, today I have to go to my grandmas... and tomorrow Nicole has basketball practice. Could you wait for us after school on Wednesday while we have our cheer practice?"

"Yeah that sounds good! As long as you guys don't mind walking home with me." I laughed.

She smiled. "Great, i'll tell the others. I'll see you in science bestie!" She said, walking out of the bathroom with a wave. As she left my smile faltered. 

I sighed and turned the faucet back on, this time splashing my face. I didn't feel right. 

I looked at my wet face in the smudged mirror and sighed. 'I wish everyone would stop assuming the Operaette was this evil. She was just supposed to be a fun character, but now people think she's brain washing little kids!' I thought.

'What did you expect? She's a villain, of course people are going to assume she does evil things!' I argued with myself. I sighed again, feeling much worse than I did a few minutes ago.

As I shut the water off, I heard a flick from behind me, like someone turning on a lighter. Then an inhale. Henrietta appeared above the stall, standing on the toilet and blew smoke into the air vent above her. 

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, not turning.

I ran my hands through my hair. "Oh, it's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind is all." I mumbled. 

She looked over to me. "I can tell." 

At that moment the bell rang, and all was quiet out in the hallways. I groaned loudly and ran my hands through my hair more. "Damn it, I'm late for class!" I shouted. 

"What do I tell Mr. Blackwell?" I groaned. She stared at me again. She sighed and hopped down from the toilet and out of her stall.

"Come on." She commanded, heading for the door. I rose an eyebrow while following her. 

"Where are we going?" I asked, barely holding myself up.

"We're skipping class. You look miserable."

I stopped myself. "What? We can't skip class, we'd get in trouble!" 

She sighed and turned to me, waving her cigarette around and creating patterns in the air. "Listen, you obviously have some bullshit to sort out, and you aren't going to fix it in school."

She took my wrist and pulled me out of the bathroom into the empty hallway. "But what do I tell my teachers?"

She stopped and rolled her eyes. "Oh right, you're a teachers pet. I forgot." She sighed, fiddled with her cigarette, then took a small drag off of it. 

She exhaled. "How about you go to your classroom and act sick, that way they'll pity you and you can pretend to go to the nurse and leave school like a pussy."

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling more and more emotionally drained by the minute. "I really appreciate what you're doing, but I don't think I can handle more lies right now..."

She rolled her eyes again. "Oh my god. Aren't you in that geeky theater club? Just act, like you always do."

I spent a minute thinking about it. I clutched my stomach, actually feeling sick now that I was feeling so unhappy. Suddenly she pulled me up and pressed her parted lips to mine, blowing smoke into my lungs. She pulled away and took another puff of her cigarette.

I hacked and coughed, confusion now added on to my list of emotions. I looked up to her, bewildered. "What-*cough* was that?!" 

She shrugged. "You needed proof that you were sick, and I know a little wannabe poser like you never would have actually taken a puff."

I continued coughing my lungs out, regretting ever even being near a cigarette. Henrietta led me to the Auditorium, and opened the door. She shoved me inside and shouted. "Hey. Hey! Teacher!"

Mr. Blackwell turned around. "Oh there you two are! I- What's wrong with Y/n?" He asked, as I hacked violently.

Henrietta didn't even bother looking worried. "I don't know. She started coughing in the hallway, i'm taking her to the nurse."

Mr. Blackwell looked quizzically at her. Probably because I don't think anyone in that room had ever seen her do anything even remotely kind. I quickly scanned the room, and as I thought none of my usual friends were there but Tweek, who was surrounded by more coffee cups than usual.

He gave me a concerned look, interrupted by a few ticks. Mr. Blackwell shrugged and started to turn around again. "Alright, get well soon Y/n."

Henrietta started to pull me out, but he loudly snapped his fingers and spun back around. "Ah, and Y/n-!" He called after me as Henrietta pulled me through the door. "You are now the understudy to the part of Maria Reynolds!"

The door slammed behind us, and I felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. My coughing started to die down, and a small part of the pit in my stomach was chipped away.

Henrietta looked back at me. "Maria Reynolds? Isn't that the bitch who seduced Hamilton and ruined his life?" She asked, in her usual bitter way.

I laughed, feeling the warmness my giggles brought filling my soul. "Yeah, that's her. I guess it makes sense, you were there when I auditioned right?"

"Yeah, that song you sang was as really slutty." She finished off her cigarette with a long drag right as we stepped outside, dropping the cigarette on the ground. I stepped on it, remembering my dad always did that when he finished a cigarette. 

I grimaced. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

She shrugged, and turned a corner into an unfamiliar neighborhood. All the houses looked very nice and tidy, with well trimmed lawns and cutesy yard-decorations. 

"Where are we going?" I asked her, taking in my new surroundings. 

"My house, the others are already there." She responded, not even looking back at me.

I stayed quiet, the dreadful knot in my soul re-tightening with every step as my joy over my part wore off. Now all I could think about was all the ways people thought of me.

When was the last time I felt like his? 

'At Cartmans house, you had a mental breakdown over nothing, remember?' I thought. 

'How long ago was that? A week, two? It feels much longer. Gosh so much has happened to me in that time. Dad came back then went away again, I met Butters and he helped me become a villain, I made friends with a bunch of guys who I knew better than they knew me. And now I feel alone. Nothing makes sense.'

I felt the horrible realization that I was going to cry. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to push my problems onto Henrietta, who just kindly took me away from my anxious environment whether she realized it or not. I didn't want to go through the pain again.

But of course, the hot tears began to fall. I stayed as silent as I could, even as my vision clouded over and I could barely make out Henriettas figure in the blurry fog. I felt my shoulders shake as held back my confused sobs, and my breathing go from steady cycle to small and infrequent gasps. All the while I tried my hardest to stay quiet.

Henrietta turned to glance at me, and I guess I must have looked even messier than I felt because she stumbled a bit. I looked up to her with my blurry eyes and blinked, causing a waterfall of trapped moisture to cascade down my face. 

I couldn't hold it back anymore. A grief filled sob escaped my throat, a horrible noise that just reminded me of that night. Why is it that confusion makes me so irrationally distressed?....

The question echoed, seeping into my soul. Henrietta looked unsure of what to do. She quickly lit another cigarette, taking drags off of it while watching me in a mild panic. 

"I'm sorry.....!" I squeaked, trying to straighten myself. She seemed annoyed at my apology. 

"I fucking told you you had shit to work through! Five feet away from the school and you break down?!" She shouted. Despite her cruel words I appreciated her voice, it stabilized me in an odd way.

She let out a mixture of a groan and a huff, and grabbed me by my wrist again, tugging me farther down the street at a much quicker pace. I stumbled a bit, trying to match her forceful movements. I sniffed and wiped my eyes, feeling the streaks that once carried warm tears down my face turn frigid.

After what felt like an hour of fumbling after her, we stopped in front of a quaint dark blue house. In front were two nicely trimmed bushes, and a few wild poppy's were were sprinkled around in the snowy grass. As expected, it was much nicer than my house, but it looked a little... too nice. 

It looked almost like a dollhouse, perfect paint, perfect decor, perfect everything. Even the icicles on the roof hung in perfect spikes, evenly one after another.

"You live here?" I sniffed. She sighed, flinging her cigarette butt into the yard, messing up the perfect combination of colors. 

"Yeah, I know it's super lame. But it's the only place we can hide if the conformist school realizes you left." She said. She pulled me to the door and let herself in. I closed the door behind us.

The inside reminded me of a catalog. The furniture was different shades of purple and well cleaned, the walls were a pale lime green and covered in family pictures. Two old-ish looking people with identical smiles and pastel outfits. Then, a dark and annoyed looking Henrietta always scowling at the camera. 

I heard a kitchen sink turn off, and the woman from all the pictures peeked her head out of the doorway. She brightened.

"Oh Henrietta sweetie! What are you doing home from school so early?" She asked. 

"They shut down school." She said stiffly.

"Really? I didn't get a phone call."

"Shut up mom! The school shut down that's all I can tell you." Henrietta said rudely.

Her mom didn't seem phased though, instead looking back at me. When she caught sight of me standing behind Henrietta, her eyes lit up.

"Oh! Are you one of Henriettas little friends?" She asked, rushing up to greet me. I gave her the politest smile I could muster. 

"Hello ma'am, nice to meet you." I said, weakly shaking her hand. Apparently this was the most amazing thing I could have done, because her smiled widened and she shook my hand with such force I thought she would break my wrist.

"Oh my, so polite! And your outfit!" She gasped. "It's so colorful!"

I looked down. I just had on a random navy-blue t-shirt I found at good will and some regular jeans. Moms sweater was tied around my waist, even if I didn't always wear it I always tried to keep it on me. Then there was just my tight and muddy sneakers, now reinforced with cardboard. They were once a vibrant (f/c) but years of wear and tear left them a stingy grey.

I wasn't as colorful as I usually was. If anything I would have described my outfit as bland. 

'But next to someone as dark and dreary as Henrietta, I suppose anyone would look bright.' I thought.

"Thank you." I said, not really thinking about it.

"Oh, such manners! Are you really a friend of my daughter?" She asked, as if it was too good to be true.

Henrietta rolled her eyes. "Mom can you stop bitching at Y/n for a minute? She doesn't need any of your happy-go-lucky bullshit questioning."

I flinched at her hard language, but her mom didn't even seem phased. Instead she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Please give my daughter a push in the right direction." She pleaded. I was taken aback, but Henrietta interrupted my response.

"Come on Y/n, you can actually breath in my room." She carped, already half-way up the staircase to our right. I followed, feeling uneasy in the same room as her mother, who watched me intently as I climbed. 

Once we were both at the top she lead me to her room, the only door in the hallway that wasn't brown, and instead a deep shade of black. As she pushed open the door I met face to face with the rest of the group, all sitting on her bed chain-smoking.

"I'm here." Henrietta said, lighting up a new cigarette. I awkwardly stepped in after her, unsure of what to say in my tired state.

"Hey." They all said in unison. Only Pete actually turned to look at her.

"What is she doing here?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously. At his question the rest of them turned to stare at me, all sharing the same look of contempt and confusion.

Henrietta flopped on her bed and sighed contently, her expression making me feel more at ease. “Turns out she’s a tortured soul too. I figured I might as well bring her here.” She said.

I shifted from one foot to the other. “Yeah, what she said.” 

Firkle looked up to me and scowled. “You really brought this conformist cheerleader wannabe into your room?”

She sat up and stared without really looking. “Like I said dipshit, she’s a tortured soul. If there was anyone who I would let in here it’s her.”

I smiled hazily. “Heh. Thanks I guess.”

Pete stood up and looked me over. “Really? This girl?” He asked disbelievingly.

She nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I really think she has some potential.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “What are you guys talking about? Potential for what?”

Henrietta stood up suddenly from her bed and pushed me to the corner of her room, where a dark grey suede couch sat, collecting dust. 

“Y/n your obviously delirious, go to sleep.” She said, pushing me onto the couch.

“Huh? Guys I’m not really that tired, i’m just kinda worn out-”

“Shut up you’re babbling! Just sleep.” She commanded, pulling her red blanket off her bed and throwing it over me. I put my head on the armrest obediently. When the blanket settled it settled over my face, shrouding me in dark red void. 

I sighed. “Okay, I guess...” 

I closed my eyes, and after a few minutes of wondering why I came with her, my mental state combined with the warm blanket and the soft voices of the others made me drowsy, and I was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting into the good chapters now! Also, Henrietta is my main girl, I love her.


	16. Goth kids and you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The goth kids spend the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another song, beautiful song imo, but it's not necessary to listen to it since the lyrics are pretty self explanatory. Though you should still listen to it since it's so pretty.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E52rxz2sjRs

3rd P.O.V.

"Hey man! Welcome back!"

"It's nice to see you again."

"You were away for so long dude!"

"Only a year, besides I visited on winter break."

"Pshh, you mean you visited Y/n. I barely got to see you!" 

"Oh, sorry chap. I didn't mean to ghost you, I guess I just got preoccupied." He paused. "...Where is Y/n anyhow? I know she doesn't go to your school, but have you seen her around?"

The boy shrugged. "I dunno bro, I heard she moved."

He froze. "...Moved? When?"

"Like two months ago dude, no one told you?"

"No! She couldn't have moved, she would have told me!" He rubbed his eyes. "Are you sure? When did you hear she left?"

The boy shrugged again, now looking a bit confused. "Like, a month ago or something. Like I said, I don't really know."

The boy looked over his friends now stiff stance and racing eyes. "Bro, how did you not know, aren't you her boyfriend?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world was dark.

I took a few steps into the void. The only thing physical and solid was the ground, the ground that held me was nothing more than glass, and under the glass stood all my friends, staring up at me.

I panicked, stomping on the ground as hard as I could. Nothing happened. They didn't even blink. I started to cry, my tears big enough to fill pots and hot enough to scorch the sides of my face black. They were coming too fast, flooding my surroundings.

Up to my ankles. I continued to stomp. My foot disappeared in the water. I knew it was gone forever.

Up to my knees. My body continued to disappear into the water. I looked pleadingly through the glass below me. My friends now looked confused, as if I had just said something strange.

Up to my hips. My legs were gone but I knew they were still there somehow. My friends now looked annoyed, and began whispering to each other.

Up to my chest. The glass began to crack, I sobbed harder, somehow knowing that my friends hated me now. 

Up to my neck. I tried to scream for help, but I didn't have a throat.

The water filled the room. I was the water now. The glass below me shattered, and everyone below me swam upwards.

I followed, now my body had returned to me and I paddled as hard as I could to move. I finally reached the surface, and realized I was in the middle of an ocean, alone, the sun beating down on me. I saw a sandy island in the distance.

I swam towards it, as it came into view I realized everyone was standing there talking to each other, smiling and laughing. I swam up and tried to stand up on the shore, but I was knocked back by a slap across my face. I looked up to see Kenny, much angrier than I had ever seen him.

"Lies reveal nothing but an empty soul." He said darkly, slapping me again.

I scrambled to get onto the beach, but everyone around me stopped me from even moving. Kenny continued to slap me. I curled up into a ball on the soft sand, and prayed for it all to end.

"WAKE UP!" 

My eyes shot open, tears streaming down my face. I realized I was curled up in a fetal position, and sat up quickly. My nervous eyes darted from the four dark figures in front of me, all with varying degrees of concern plastered on their faces. My breathing steadied slightly, and I wiped my eyes. It was all a dream.

"Y/n what the hell was that?" Micheal asked, and I realized he was the one who had woken me. I stared at him, my mouth agape as I tried to form words, but none came.

"She had a nightmare, stupid. And a pretty nasty one it looks like." Henrietta said, annoyed. 

"A nightmare...?" I mumbled, running my fingers through my hair anxiously. 

"Yeah." Pete groaned, flipping his hair. "You were crying and shaking in your sleep, Henrietta slapped you like four times but you didn't wake up."

I rubbed my eyes so hard that when I stopped I saw stars. "Really? Wow... I felt those in my dream."

"Nightmare." Micheal corrected, taking his hand off my shoulder.

I smiled a little. "Heh. Right."

"What was it about, it sounded funny," Micheal asked, settling himself into the cushion next to me and striking a match. He lit his cigarette and stared up at the smoke ring that flew above him as he exhaled. 

I stood up and began to fold the blanket, which was now in a heap on the floor. As I adjusted it I spoke. "Well I don't remember all of it anymore, but I definitely remember one part. I washed up on an island, but when I tried to crawl on it my friend started hitting me."

"Which friend?" Henrietta asked, looking bored.

"You know Kenny? The loud guy in drama? Him." I said, placing the neatly folded cloth onto the edge of her bed.

She poked at a piece of her messy hair. "The fucker who's always flirting with you?"

I turned to her, my forehead wrinkling. "Huh? No he doesn't!"

Pete furrowed his brows too, though much less than me. "What? He flirts with you all the time. We have to be around his pathetic ass an hour everyday, we should know."

I crossed my arms an looked at the ground, feeling embarrassed. Though I couldn't for the life of me explain why. "He does not flirt with me, all he does is mess around and joke. He does that to everybody!" I huffed. But no one seemed to believe me. 

Firkle rolled his eyes. "Enough with this stupid lovey-dovey bullshit. What happened next in your nightmare?"

I cleared my throat, trying to remember what came next in my fleeting memory. "Uh... Oh! He said something really mean! Or...wait, did that come before..?" I paced, tapping my chin.

I sat on the couch next to Micheal and tapped my foot, trying to retrieve my thoughts. Micheal placed a hand on my shoulder again. I turned to look at him, and he offered me nothing but a glossy stare. I noticed how his thick curls framed his face nicely, and felt a tiny, tiny bit comforted by his strange gesture, realizing no matter how dead it was, it still came from a human with good intentions.

"Okay... Whenever it happened, he looked really annoyed at me and said something about lying. Lies, uh.....Lies.... Oh! Lies reveal nothing but an empty soul! I remember!" I said, joyfully.

The goths all glanced at each other, and as if in tune took a inhaled another puff of their cigarettes. Even Firkle. I felt concern grow in my stomach as I tried to determine whether or not it was a candy cigarette, since I hadn't seen him exhale any smoke. As I waited to prove my hypothesis I barely took in what the others were saying to each other.

"Okay, I don't want to admit this Katy Perry poser Disney chick said something goth, but.... Come one, "Lies reveal nothing but an empty soul"? That's hardcore." Pete said in a little huddle he had formed with the other two.

"I told you, she's much darker than she lets on. With a few adjustments she could be one of us in no time." Henrietta sniffed, a hint of pride in her voice.

I watched as Firkle took another puff of his cigarette and held my breath. In a few moments he exhaled, with a great puff of grey. My eyes widened as I leaped over to him and yanked the death stick out of his mouth.

"YEET!" I screamed, throwing it out the open window before anyone could react. 

Firkle looked surprised, and had his fingers held up to his mouth, as if he were still holding the cigarette. I turned and saw that the rest of them had the same expression, confusion. Though I noticed the three oldest had the slightest bit of amusement in their eyes.

Firkle blinked, coming to his senses. He finally reemerged into the real world, looking pissed.

"What the fuck was that?! I wasn't even done with it!" He screeched. I stood my ground and put my hands on my hips. 

"Listen kid, I genuinely hate the fact that you guys smoke. I hate it. But, as of right now I can't exactly do anything about it for them. But you? How old are you, like ten?"

"Twelve." He growled. Crossing his arms.

"Same thing. The point is, I can literally scoop you up in my arms and toss you you're so tiny. And there is no freaking way I am gonna sit here and watch as your little baby lung fill with ash and dust. I will stab myself in the eyes before I watch you destroy your life before you're even a teenager!"

For a moment everything was quiet, so quiet I could hear Henrietta's mom humming something downstairs. "Whoa..." I finally heard Pete say behind me. I turned to them and scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed. 

"Oh, that was kinda mean wasn't it? I'm sorry Firkle, I should have-" I began.

"Shut up." Micheal commanded, stepping up to me and placing a hand on my head. It weighed me down slightly, and at that moment I realized this kid must have been at least 6'3, and he was slouching. I knew he was tall but Jesus Christ. I looked up at him with curious eyes, and his face for once had a little bit of color. I wonder why.

Henrietta stepped up next to him. "Y/n, were turning you goth." 

I tilted my head once he let go of me. "...Huh?" I said after a moment of confusion. "Goth... like you? Why?"

She put tucked her hands under her elbows and looked me directly in the eye through her bangs. "Look, we all agree that you think much deeper about things than the other conformists at school do, and you obviously have a soul that's constantly in pain. So," She said. "We're going to fix you."

"What are you talking about? I may be a little unhappy sometimes, but I work through my emotions just like anybody else. Isn't that what you brought me here for?" I asked her.

She paused a moment to take a sour looking puff of her cigarette, but while she did Firkle stomped between us. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with this poser. She literally just threw my cigarette out before I was even done with it, and you think someone like her is going to fit in with us?" He snarled.

Pete leaned down to his height. "Yes, we do." He stood back up and shoved his hands in his pockets, now looking to me. "So what do you say? Are you ready to stop being an idiot conformist and be like us?"

I thought it over a moment. I sighed. "My life is already so weird right now," I grinned. "So why not?"

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Timeskip!  
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"What's your favorite color?" Pete asked, standing in front of me while I sat crossed legged on my bed. The others were rummaging around my sparse dresser, pulling out random clothes and tossing them into a pile in the middle of my room.

"Every color has it's place in the rainbow you know." I said, tossing a pack of cigarettes I had confiscated from Firkle into the air and catching it.

He rolled his eyes and let his hair hang into his face. "Wrong. It's black."

I laughed, not really taking him seriously. "I mean if you say so, bossy."

Henrietta looked at me, holding one of my few darker sweaters up to examine. "I think you'd look good in black Y/n."

"I mean black's a good color on anybody, I don't think you can physically look bad wearing dark colors." I pointed out. I grinned and gestured at them all. "Like you guys, smoking hot! Well except Firkle of course."

Firkle, who had been sitting in the corner of my room sulking now turned to grimace at me, but said nothing. The others gave me weird looks. 

"'Smoking hot?' What are you some blonde surfer dude from and eighties movie?" Pete said, finally flipping his hair out of his eyes.

I laughed. "Sorry, that was a weird way of saying you guys are very visually appealing."

"Y/n, I love you honey, but that's not any better." I heard a familiar voice say from the opposite end of my bedroom.

I glanced at my open door, where my mother now stood. She had her work apron on, and I realized she must be home for her lunch break. It suddenly struck me that I was still supposed to be in school.

I leaped up and approached her, sweating nervously. "Oh! Mom! I- Uh... I can explain!" I stuttered.

She rose an eyebrow, just like I do She looked past me at the four shadowy figures lurking behind me. "You and I will talk about this later." She said, glaring back at me. "How about you introduce me to your new friends." 

I felt confused, but gave my mom a grateful smile. "Oh yeah! Mom, this is Henrietta, Pete, Micheal, and Firkle. And they're turning me goth because apparently i'm deep."

She laughed slightly. "Well I'm glad to see there are still goth kids now, I was afraid we would die out."

Henrietta blinked, and dropped my sweater on the floor. "Wait. Are you... implying that you're goth?" She asked. I wanted to laugh, her eyes were practically sparkling.

My mom smiled wistfully. "I wouldn't say i'm goth anymore, but I certainly did go through a phase like that in college."

"It's not a phase, this is who we are." Firkle said bitterly, staring out my small window. 

"I'm sure it is. I'm just saying I was goth for awhile, but enough dark things have happened to me in life so i'm over it now. I'm always glad to see other people become goth though, it was fun while it lasted."

Henrietta looked like herself again. "Oh. That's disappointing, I thought maybe for a second you actually had a mom who wasn't an asshole conformist. I guess it was too good to be true." 

"Conformist? I haven't heard that one before. Is that what you kids say nowadays?" Mom said, ignoring the fact that she was just called an asshole. 

Henrietta rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Y/n!" She barked, turning back to me. "What is your favorite band?"

"Favorite? I guess (F/B), their songs are pretty good."

"WRONG! If you want to be goth, you can't listen to conformist garbage like that. Your favorite band is-"

"Sorry to interrupt hun, but I really don't think you kids will be able to change Y/n. I know my daughter, and she's not exactly the type to smoke and be angry at society 24/7." Mom interrupted. She looked sad for some reason, but she still wore a smile. 

Micheal walked up to my mom, towering over her. "That's what you think." He said without hesitation, shooing her out and shutting the door. I snorted. 

"Sorry mom!" I called after her, still giggling.

"And another thing," Henrietta said, leaning over and tossing me a black dress shirt. "You aren't going to say sorry anymore. Especially to your parents." 

"But what if I mess up something? Like if I forget to wash the dishes." I asked, messing with the buttons.

"Then you look your mom straight in the eye and break a piece of fine china. That'll show her who's. bosses"

"All of our plates are made of plastic, we can't afford fine China ." 

"Oh. Well then break a vase, that'll-"

"We don't have any vases either. They're too expensive."

"God, how poor are you?!" She asked, sitting down on my bed. 

"Easy Henrietta. I think that's enough questioning, let's just do the outfit." Pete said, gesturing to the pile of clothes on the floor.

"Okay... What's the darkest thing here? Henrietta asked, hopping down from the bed. 

"This skirt is black, but it's covered in glitter." He said, holding up the sequined covered cloth. I grinned and pointed at it.

"Oh yeah, I wore that in a little show I was in. It might not even fit me now, that play was like three years ago." I said, recalling the show. I was just some random extra, but they gave me a sparkly outfit to wear and said I could keep the skirt. Of course I did, always appreciating the extra clothes.

"Whatever. And put on that turtle neck, it at least is darker than the rest of this crap." She said, throwing the outfit at me. 

"Aye-aye captain!" I laughed, leaving my room and stepping out into the shag hallway to the sound of their annoyed groans. I carried my clothes into the bathroom and stripped down to my underwear.

They weren't anything special, in fact I'd call them ratty. They were different shades of grey and stained, and my bra was ever so slightly too small, but they still worked and they were freshly cleaned. So who really cares?

I began to slip on the skirt, and as expected it was too small. I struggled to get them over my knees, and arched my back trying to pull them up.

The bathroom door burst open. "Y/n, Henrietta found you a-" I jumped and turned, only to see Pete standing frozen in the doorway, with red tinted cheeks and hair covering his wide eyes. He was clutching a pair of white tights in his fist, I assume for me.

I was also frozen, bent over slightly holding my ruffled skirt in my fingers. My mouth parted and for a moment I couldn't speak. We just locked eyes and he bit his lip. 

Finally I found my voice. "LEAVE?!" I shouted, covering myself. As I did my skirt fell to my ankles. 

He stumbled back, chucking my balled up tights to my feet. "Sorry!" He yelped in a voice I had never heard from him before. He slammed the door, and I heard him dash off back to my room.

I stood for a minute, replaying what had just happened in my mind. Then the image of his red face under his scraggly hair returned to me, and I couldn't hold in my laughter.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub, covering my eyes and cackling maniacly. Everytime my laughter began to die down, his wide eyes returned to me, and the image of him sitting on my bed, trying to ignore my insane laughter I knew they could hear, made it start up again. 

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the bathroom door. 

"Honey, are you alright? I heard yelling."

I laughed even harder.

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Timeskip!

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"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

"ASK HER!" Pete yelled, spamming the buttons on the oven.

"WHAT DID I DO?!" She shouted back, smoke billowing out of her mouth with each word. She had my moms recipe book in front of her on the counter, she was mouthing out the words. "WHAT THE HELL IS PAPRIKA?"

The smoke alarm started to go off, adding to the general noise. "WHAT RECIPE ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" I asked, rushing over to her. "WE'RE MAKING BROWNIES, WHY DO YOU THINK WE NEED PAPRIKA?!"

"This is great." Firkle said from atop the fridge, away from the madness.

I caught sight of Pete, still desperately pushing every button on the oven. It was over 400 degrees. 

"PETE WHAT THE FUCK-?"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF."

"WHAT?"

"TURN IT OFF!" He yelled, pointing to the oven in a blind panic. I threw myself at it, but Henrietta grabbed my shoulder.

"I'M BOILING WATER!"

I opened up the oven, a cloud of heat rushing out and making my eyes tear up. Inside was a small uncovered pot of water, just sitting inside. 

"Did.... DID YOU TRY TO BOIL WATER IN THE OVEN?!"

"IS THAT WRONG?"

"HENRIETTA WHAT THE FUCK."

"I got the flour." Micheal said from besides me, holding a large bag in his hand. He was wearing the old apron we had laying around, a good idea, since my new goth clothes were already a mess.

I glanced into his blank eyes. "Good, good! Uh, now we need Vanilla extract!" I shouted, pulling an oven mitt over my hand and pulling the heavy pot out. 

"What?" He said, leaning down right into my ear. I shivered, and caused the pot to tilt in my grasp. The ovens insides hissed angrily when the water spilled over the sides. I jumped and pushed Micheal back as the hot water trickled out.

"AH! PETE BE CAREFUL!" I shouted as he found a dishrag and tried to mop up the growing puddle. He yanked his hand back the second it made contact.

"Oh god..." I began to walk over to him, before spotting Henrietta pouring vegetable oil into a measuring cup. She tipped it too fast, and I knew it was about to overflow. "HENRI- uh, PETE ARE you... Oh my..." I realized that neither could hear me. 

Suddenly my feet left the ground. I looked back. Micheal was lifting me effortlessly, like a ragdoll. He set me down on the kitchen table, then turned to his friends. 

"Good job guys, we destroyed her kitchen." He said. Somehow they both heard him, and stopped what they were doing. "Get out." He said, shooing them away. 

"Oh thank god." Henrietta said, hurrying out into my living room, Pete close behind her. 

I turned off the oven, deciding to wait for the insides to cool before reaching inside again. I looked around. "Where's...?"

"Up there." Firkle said, hopping down an gesturing behind him. "There's also baking soda and sprinkles. You're welcome." 

"Ah thanks kid! Uh.." I said, watching as Micheal undid the smoke detector with his bare hands without standing on anything. "...Thanks to you too. They're... not good cooks."

"I know. I've been friends with them since third grade."

It sounded condescending, but there was something kind in his eyes as he glanced through the doorway at the three others. I smiled.

"Okay, let's make this better!" I said.

We both went in separate directions, taking on different tasks. He moved around the kitchen like he had known it for years, wiping spilled salt off the counter on to the floor, where I swept it up with our crappy little broom mom stole from work. 

He looked at me for a moment, before running another dishrag under the tap and tossing it towards me. "You're covered in flour."

I looked down at myself in disbelief. "How? We haven't even used it yet." 

I swear, when I turned away I heard laughter. 

3rd P.O.V.

The weary mother, sitting up late into the night with her youngest child. She listened to the distressed sound of shouting the floor below her, followed by the smoke detector and even more shouting. Then silence, then the blaring of the television.

When the small child was finally asleep, she crept downstairs, she was met with three very goth children doing some kind of satanic ritual. She ignored them, and walked to the kitchen.

It was much cleaner than she was expecting. However, her daughter was coated in every ingredient. The remaining two were standing over her recipe book, adding in the exact amount of chocolate chips. 

She watched silently from the doorway. Her daughter and a boy. Her daughter, almost a carbon copy of her, standing besides boy wearing her husbands old apron, the only thing of his she couldn't bear to let go.

They were so young, so full of hope. Her eyes shiny and undisturbed by the terrible things she had lived through. The boy looked at her when she was not looking at him, the same hope in his gaze. 

She stepped through the doorway, catching their attention. Her daughter smiled warmly. A warmth she didn't deserve.

"Hey mom!" She chirped. "Don't worry, we cleaned up all the mess. Oh! If the oven starts smoking, it's probably just steam, i'll take care of it."

The mother nodded, not bothering to think on her words. She was too tired. 

"Alright then. Don't eat all the cookies, I want to give one to Kiyo in the morning." 

"Okay mom! I'll save one for you, too!" 

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Timeskip!

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Your P.O.V.

I yawned and stretched, my foot lightly hitting Micheals leg. 

We had all decided to sleep in the living room, my room being too small for all of us. We had made a nest of couch cushions and miscellaneous pillows and blankets on the living room floor. Now we were all curled up together, Henrietta snoring loudly under me (i was using her arm as a pillow), Micheal seemingly dead besides me, just our fingers touching, Pete... somewhere. I had lost him in the blankets. 

Firkle was on the couch, with his own little throne of the darkest pillows he could find. Every minute he would toss and turn, occasionally kicking a cushion down onto us. Finally, I heard him sigh quietly. 

"You're not asleep, are you?" I said softly, feeling Henrietta stir. 

He was quiet for a moment. "...no. It's too weird here." 

"I could sing you a song." I yawned. My slowly sat up, looking at his small figure in the darkness. "It's really all I can do."

"...Fine."

Wow. Not even an insult. I stood up and stepped over the others, setting myself down on the end of our couch. He layed back down in his spot, moving around to make himself comfortable. 

"Any requests?"

"I don't care."

I nodded, yawning again. I rested my head against the edge of the couch, trying to think of a song. I looked up at the ceiling, humming softly, so that I wouldn't wake them.

"A young man walked through the forest, With his quiver and hunting bow."

"He heard a young girl singing, And followed the sound below." 

"There he found the maiden, Who lives in the willow". 

"He called to her as she listened, From a ring of toadstools red." 

"'Come with me my maiden, Come from thy willow bed'"

"She looked at him serenely... And only shook her head." 

"'See me now, A ray of light in the moondance.'"

"'See me now, I cannot leave this place.'"

"'Hear me now, A strain of song in the forest.'"

"'Don't ask me, To follow where you lead.'"

I hummed some more, the images vivid in my head.

"A young man walked through the forest, With a flower and coat of green."

"His love had hair like fire, Her eyes an emerald sheen." 

"She wrapped herself in beauty, So young and so serene." 

"He stood there under the willow, And he gave her the yellow bloom." '

"'Girl my heart you've captured, Oh I would be your groom.'"

"She said she'd wed him never, Not near, nor far, nor soon."

"'See me now, A ray of light in the moondance." 

"'See me now, I cannot leave this place.'" 

"'Hear me now, A strain of song in the forest.'" 

"'Don't ask me, To follow where you lead.'"

"A young man walked through the forest, With an axe sharp as a knife." 

"I'll take the green-eyed fairy, And she shall be my wife." 

"With her I'll raise my children, With her I'll live my life." 

"The maiden wept when she heard him, When he said he'd set her free." 

"He took his axe and used it, To bring down her ancient tree." 

"'Now your willow's fallen, Now you belong to me.'" 

"'See me now, A ray of light in the moondance.'" 

"'See me now, I cannot leave this place.'" 

"'Hear me now, A strain of song in the forest.'" 

"'Don't ask me, To follow where you lead.'"

"She followed him out the forest, And collapsed upon the earth." 

"Her feet had walked but a distance, From the green land of her birth."

"She faded into a flower, That would bloom for one bright eve." 

I glanced down at him, memories flooding back.

"He could not take from the forest, What was never meant to leave." 

I looked down at him. He was in a ball, his face peaceful. For once he seemed almost innocent, and happy. He had scootched closer to her while I was singing, now cuddled up to me. 

However, he was not like Kiyo. Where Kiyo would happily suck his thumb quietly, he was thrashing about and making the strangest noises. I chuckled to herself, wondering whether or not to move. 

"...That song was pretty."

I glanced down to the floor, where Pete was staring up at me serenely. I laughed. "Thanks."

"Does it mean anything?"

"What?"

"The song." He whispered, turning to face me on his side. "It's.. so emotional. Does it mean anything to you?"

"Well... I guess it does strike a chord. Some things that have happened to me probably wouldn't have happened if people just took no for an answer."

He was quiet for a moment. "...You don't have to keep doing this."

"What?"

"Being goth. You don't have to put up with us like this. I know we're kinda forcing you, but you don't have to listen."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "I love hanging out with you guys. It's sweet that you think i'm worthy of sharing your interests. I'm probably not cut out to be goth, but I figured none of you would hang around me if i didn't."

"What? No. We, uh, enjoy having you around too. Even Firkle."

"I thought so. Otherwise you guys wouldn't have rescued me like you did. I guess tried to change myself to fit in?"

"That's so cliche."

"I know right? Thank god the power of friendship saved us."

"I'm going to sleep." He said, turning over. I laughed slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henrietta is a gremlin lady and i ADORE her.


	17. Chatterbox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pc Principal needs help convincing your favorite bitch.

I walked through the schools front doors, and held one open for the others. Henrietta, Firkle, Michael and Pete entered behind me. 

"Thanks." Michael muttered. I smiled and let go of the door, letting it slam shut loudly. I only noticed how loud it was because the entire crowded lobby has gone silent. 

I turned to face the student body, and realized that all eyes were on me, including the others I came in with. Were they waiting for my response to the stares? 

I waved. "Hello, what are you all looking at?" I asked innocently. 

They stared for a moment more, then returned to their chattering. Though I noticed quite a few people still glanced back at me and whispered behind their hands. 

Henriettas jaw dropped and her eyebrows furrowed. I giggled and she closed her mouth. 

"It's that easy to get people to stop staring?" She asked. I laughed and gave her a pat on the back. 

"Yeah, people don't like confrontation. So just confront them, and they usually stop." I said, shrugging. I had always used it to my advantage, since I was kind to people they usually assumed I wouldn't defend myself if they were mean, and unfortunately that meant lots of people talking as if I wasn't there.

Firkled rolled his eyes. "We do confront people, they call us assholes and give us detention." He huffed.

I noticed the rest of them were leaning up against the wall behind me, with their arms crossed and unlit cigarettes in their mouths. I leaned with them, though I just messed with my hair. I could imagine what this must have looked like to the mass of students before us, a bubbly, smiling figure between four dreary figures with identical unimpressed faces. I realized that when I was with them I just drew more stares their way, and yet they let me stay. My smile grew. 

"I think that's because you guys confront people very aggressively. When you're mean they get defensive, and then they never leave you alone because they want to protect their ego." I explained. "Just very nicely say that you see them staring, that way they get embarrassed and usually avoid you." 

By this point the entire crew was listening to me. Henrietta looked the most interested. Pete I could tell was also mentally taking notes, I noticed whenever he was listening closely he let his hair hang into his face, like he was trying to block out everything else. He also did this when he was embarrassed, but then it was because he was trying to hide his face. Though sometimes he just let in hang in his face for no reason, so what do I know?

The first bell rang, signalling for everyone to stop loitering around and get things to their lockers. I stepped away from the wall, and waved goodbye. "See you guys in theater!" 

Pete and Firkle just glanced at me as they went their own ways, Firkle towards the attached Middle school and Pete to wherever his locker was. Henrietta actually waved at me a little as she left, and Michael nudged me slightly when he brushed past me. I giggled. I loved how different they each were, and yet they were all still friends.

'Of course, they're only friends because they all hate everything with a passion' I thought, idly walking towards my locker, which lucky enough was very close to the front entrance. Eric wasn't there yet, so I silently put away my backpack and took out my purse. I loaded my books into it, and slammed my locker door, feeling satisfied. 

I decided to wait for the second bell to ring by the water fountains, and quietly hummed to myself and thought about what I would say to team Stan when I saw them next. Technically I had already seen Cartman yesterday, but I didn't get the change to welcome him back. And as far as the boys knew, I hadn't seen them in a week. 

Of course I had already seen them over the weekend, but as the Operaette. I hadn't spoken to them face to face without masks dividing us, and I honestly missed them. 

Before I could think any more on the subject, I heard the familiar sound of sneakers racing towards me. I turned to see Clyde running up to me, weaving his way through the crowded hallways, Token and Tweek at his heels.

"Y/n where were you yesterday?? We couldn't find you, we thought you died!" Clyde shouted, gripping my shoulders and shaking me. I pulled away from him, feeling myself go dizzy.

Tweek nodded quickly, making his hair floor up even more. "W-we asked the n-nurse if you w-went home, but she said y-you never even w-went t-to her office!" He shrieked, grabbing at my hand. I have it a gentle squeeze and his eyes went slightly less wide.

Token nodded as well. "We were all worried, especially when Tweek saw you coughing your lungs out." He said, putting a hand in my shoulder. Tweek nodded rapidly again.

I playfully rolled my eyes. "To be fair, none of you were at school either, only Cartman and Tweek showed up, and Tweek was caffeinated as frick." I said, putting my elbow on the twitchy boys shoulder despite him being slightly taller than me.

The three looked incredibly nervous all of a sudden. I realized they thought I was going to ask why they were all absent, and I knew it would be suspicious if I didn't ask. So decided to feed them an excuse.

"Did you guys all get sick or something? Did you all go outside without coats and catch a cold?" I asked, pretending to scold the trio. They all glanced at each other as if saying, "Yeah, that's a good story" I recognized the look, it's the look Kiyo and I used to exchange when we lived in New York and mom told dad what we did that day. Dad never liked us going to friends houses or going to stores he didn't trust. So mom fed him lies, everyday.

"Yeah, yeah!" Clyde agreed, over enthusiastically nodding his head. "Yeah Y/n, we were just so stupid! We just rolled around in the snow and then boom, we were sick!" He shouted, hooking his elbow around my neck and gesturing grandly, making my elbow slide off of Tweeks shoulder.

Token rolled his eyes slightly. "Yup. We.... Rolled around in the snow. Clyde definitely said exactly what we did. An accurate portrayal of how we got sick. Right Tweek?" He asked, eyeing the extra jittery blonde.

"GAH! TOO MUCH PRESSURE!" He yelped, running his fingers through his hair and his eyes going wide again. Out of instinct he grabbed my hand and squeezed it harder than I expected, like he wanted to break my knuckles. I squeezed back, trying not to show my pain.

"Tweek calm down, you're practically crushing her." Token said, putting a hand on Tweeks shoulder, making him jump up out of fright. Tweek blinked twice and looked down at our locked hands. He quickly let go and gripped his head.

"GAH!! I'm sorry Y/n! I d-didn't m-mean to!" He shouted, beginning to hyperventilate. I took his hand again. 

"Don't worry about it Tweek, it was an accident. What I'm worried about," I said, changing the subject to something less stressful for the twitchy bean. "is Craig. Where is that tall weirdo?"

Clyde pointed down the hallway to our left. "He's in PC principal's office." He said. I rose an eyebrow.

"What? It's not even first period, how did he get in trouble already?" I asked in disbelief. Since I had sat with team Craig for an entire week at lunch, I learned more than my fair share about the group. Including lots of interesting facts about Craig.

Apparently, Craig got sent to the principal's office at least once a week. Teachers found him disrespectful since he was so monotone and always sounded uninterested. Plus he got fed up easily and when he did, he had a habit of flipping people off. Apparently the only reason he was still in school was because he was a great student. Straight A's and was never late in sending in work. I wasn't surprised he was in trouble, I was surprised how early in the day he was. 

The crowd began to scatter, and everyone began to wander the halls towards their respective classrooms. Our group all walked to Mrs. Greys room, since we were all there first period.

Token shook his head as we walked. "No, he hasn't done anything this time. He's just getting switched to a new second period."

Tweek tightly gripped the straps of his backpack. "Y-yeah! He used to b-be in sh-shop class, but he was k-kicked out!"

"Really? Oh my god, what did he do?" I asked, perhaps a little over excitedly. 

Clyde skipped alongside me. "Imagine a huge machine, specifically made for handling heavy pieces of metal and lumbar. It's bolted into the ground and the blade was specifically made to cut through steel."

I nodded. "Okay..."

"Now, imagine that same machine. And it's completely unusable. Like, it's flipped on its side and the blade is bent in half."

Before I could speak Token interjected. "The blade was not bent in half, it was shattered." He said, elbowing Clyde in the ribs. "You aren't even in shop, get your facts straight."

Clyde stuck out his tongue and elbowed Token right back. "I do have my facts straight! I overheard the janitors talking about it." He said. "And you aren't in shop either dude." He turned to me. "Token's in home ec, he's the wife of our group."

"Really?!" I shouted excitedly. I knew Clyde was teasing Token, but I would get him for that later. "Token, can you teach me how to sew? I've always wanted to learn a skill like that!"

Token smiled. "Sure. But you really have to commit yourself, learning takes practice." He said, picking a piece of lint of his sweater and flicking it away from him. 

I nodded, excitedly. "I can do it. Especially with such a great teacher!" I laughed, skipping ahead and shooting finger guns at him. He rolled his eyes but smiled at me again. 

"And speaking of great teachers!" Clyde said, pulling open the classroom door and holding it for us. inside Mrs. Grey was sitting at her desk, sipping her mug of coffee. Next to her was a small cardboard box, I knew from experience it was filled with bean-bags. They had been thrown at me more times than I could count. It was a running joke among the class now, every time one was thrown at anybody, people, usually Kenny, would point and laugh, "You just pulled a Y/n!"

I thought it was hilarious. Whenever one was thrown I would shake my head and say something like, "Sorry dude, I told you I was a bad influence."

"Good morning Mz. Grey!" I said, prancing over to my seat. It was decided I would sit smack dab in the middle of the class, squished between Cartman and Wendy, sitting right behind Tweek. I got out a random pen at the bottom of my bag, tested it on my hand and set it on my desk, waiting for class to start.

"Good morning Y/n, how was your day yesterday?" She asked, not looking up from her papers.

"Pretty dope, I had a sleepover."

"That's nice dear." She said distractedly. 

"Y/n, you had a sleepover?" Wendy asked, stepping into class and setting her large stacks of hardcover books onto her desk with a thud.

I turned in my seat to face her. "Hey Wendy! Yeah, the goth kids slept over at my house. They had to walk to school with me though, you would not believe how grumpy they are in the morning!" I said.

The second after I said that, four things happened at once. Wendys eyes widened, Mrs. Grey choked on her coffee, spilling a few drops on her silk dress, Tweek dropped his pencil onto the floor in one big twitch, and Team Stan entered the classroom just in time to hear my words. I turned my head to see the four of them, Stan frozen in the doorway staring at me, Kyle desperately trying to get around him, glancing at me every second. 

Cartman and Kenny were slightly behind the other two, talking to each other in the noisy hallway. "Huh, what did she say?" Cartman asked, scratching at his nose. 

Stan finally came to his senses and practically sprinted up to me. He grabbed my hand and yanked me up out of my seat. 

"Ah! Stan, what are you doing?!" I asked, slightly freaked out at his erratic movements .

Stan looked me over, then jerked me around so I was facing away from him. While he looked over my back he spoke. "Are you okay?! What did they do to you, are you hurt?" He asked, lifting one of my limp arms to check under it. 

'What is he looking for, scars?' I thought to myself.

I pulled my arm away and turned to face him. By now Kyle had joined behind him, looking at me anxiously. Kenny and Cartman were also behind them, both looking confused. I crossed my arms.

"What are you talking about? No one hurt me, dude." I said, tilting my head. Stan certainly looked paranoid, his eyebrows were furrowed and he kept on searching my face, like he was looking for evidence.

"Y -y/n you s-slept with the g-goth kids?!' Tweek asked, turning around in his seat and staring at me. 

Kenny gasped. He ran up to me and slammed his hands on my desk next to me, his eyes sparkling. "Y/n, for real? That's awesome! And here I was thinking you were a virgin. How'd you manage to do them all at once?" 

"Kenny, language." Mrs. Grey warned. Though it was pretty obvious she was silently listening to our conversation.

"Virgin isn't a bad word, it's in the bible!" Cartman argued. 

I nodded. "Yeah, words that aren't hurtful shouldn't be- wait no!" I caught myself. "Ken, I didn't sleep with them. They slept over at my house. We just hung out all day, it was fun!" 

Stan, who was once again frozen in front of me, practically fainted. He sat down on my desk and messed with his hat, moving it around his head like he was contemplating taking it off, but never did. "Oh thank god." He sighed.

Tweek leaned over to glance at me from behind Stan. "S-sorry Y/n, I d-didn't m-mean it like that!" He spluttered, a vein on his neck throbbing from under his pale skin. I shook my hand. 

"Don't worry about it dude, there was only one person here to misinterpreted your words." I said, glancing over at Kenny with a smile that said 'Hey dude what the fuck'.

Kenny playfully rolled his eyes and leaned on my desk, his parka riding up once more and covering his mouth. "Hey don't blame me! I thought maybe it was possible, yah know, she is Pan, so......" He said, gesturing at me like he was displaying to the others exactly why he thought I was sleeping with three separate people at the same time.

"Aw, Kenny not you too!" I collapsed back into my seat with a groan that made Wendy quietly giggle at the drama queen I was. I flopped my head into my desk with a thud, thankfully my bag softened the blow. I picked my head up slowly and rested my chin against the bag, my hair a mess, framing my vision.

"What do you mean 'me too?'" He asked, leaning over to look my in the eyes. He blew into my face, getting hair out of my eyes. I grinned and fixed my posture.

"Bro, if I had a nickel for everytime someone assumed I get around because I'm pan, I would have..... uh.... Eric help me out." I said, turning to face a very disgruntled looking Cartman. 

He brightened, and pointed to Kenny, his chest puffed out. "If she had a nickel for every time she was called a slut because she's pan, she wouldn't have to live on the same street as you!"

"Eric, language." Mrs. Grey warned, eyeing him dangerously. For a split second she glanced at me, I guess to check that I wasn't upset. But although I didn't exactly like what Eric said, I had heard it a million times before in much worse ways, so I just shook my head in disapproval. 

Token finally decided to join in on the conversation from his desk in the corner of the classroom. "Y/n, were you really called a slut?" He asked, concerned. 

I laughed. "Slut? Dude that's just the beginning, I got called a whore, a tramp, a hooker, got called a bimbo a few times that was fun," I continued on, with each name the boys seemed to just get more and more concerned. Wendy looked astonished, but since she had been in the same class as Cartman her whole life, and he wasn't exactly sparing with his use of those words, I could only assume she was called all of that and worse.

"Dear god Y/n, stop it before you summon him!" Mrs. Grey said, standing up from her desk and pointing at the classroom door. The door didn't really close anymore, it could swing back and forth, so you could sort of shut the classroom off from the hallway, but it didn't fit in its frame at all since my fateful first day in class when he burst through.

Cartman scoffed. "Y/n could take him." He muttered. 

As if on cue the intercom buzzed to life. Pc principals intense voice rang out through the school.

"Could student Y/n L/n please come to my office? Right away, thank you." Then the recognizable click of the intercom being shut off. Everyone in class was quiet. 

I leaned back in my chair, a smiling adorning my face, and glanced at Cartman. "Gee thanks Eric, I'll try not to get you detention this time."

Kyles eyebrows crept together. "I hope you're not in trouble Y/n, it's our first day back and you are already going to battle Pc principal." 

I stood up and slung my purse over my shoulder. "Don't sweat it, if he gets angry i'll just bring up how poor I am, that oughta make him feel guilty."

"Clever." Mrs. Grey said, sipping her coffee. 

I grinned. "Poverty sucks, but god damn it i'm going to use it to my advantage!" I shouted, sprinting out the door.

"Yeah!" Kenny yelled before the door slammed shut (?) behind me. I giggled as I continued to run up the hallways to his office. I finally reached his door and knocked tentatively.

"Enter!" 

I turned the knob and pushed the solid door open. Inside I was met with Pc Principal, of course, but also two other familiar faces. 

"Y/n! Thank you very much for coming, we need your opinion on a very important matter. Please, have a seat child." Mr. Blackwell greeted, gesturing to the empty chair between him and Craig, who did little more than make eye contact with me then promptly break it. Pc Principal looked stern and serious under his sunglasses, but then again he always did.

He cleared his throat. "Ehm, yes. Thank you for joining us today." He said while I sat down on the small cushioned chair. I tried to meet Craigs gaze, but he was just staring straight ahead at Pc principal. 

"Yeah sure, what's happening why am I here?" I asked, settling myself down. 

Pc Principal leaned forward in his desk and folded his hands neatly in front of him. "Mr. BlackWell, would you care to explain?"

"Not at all." He faced me. "Y/n i'm sure you know your friend Craig here has recently been removed from his shop class do to... well... an incident on his part."

I held back a remark. "So I've heard. What's going to happen to him?"

Mr. Blackwell smiled. "That's what we called you in for. The only class left Craig can join is Drama with you, but he is a little... hesitant. Since you are one of my most passionate students, I thought maybe you could help convince him."

"We of course understand if you would prefer to stay out of this, so Y/n you have the right to decline." Pc Principal said, sounding a tiny bit cautious. I smiled. I figured i'd be nice.

I shrugged. "I guess that makes sense." I turned to Craig. "Hey do you want to join?"

"No."

I turned back. "He says no."

Pc Principal sighed. "Craig please, you need the extra class to graduate, and this is the only available class we have left for you." 

Mr. Blackwell snapped his fingers. He leaned over Pc Principal's desk and whispered something in his ear. Pc Principal listened for a minute then nodded. Both men stood up.

"Children we must leave the room for a moment, please stay here together." Mr. Blackwell said, opening the door for the principal and then exiting after him.

"What do you think they're doing?" I asked Craig, staring at them leave through the small window in the door. Craig shrugged and blew a bubble with a piece of gum he was chewing. It's pop echoed around the room.

We sat in an unsettled silence for a moment. I glanced at him, and he glanced at me. 

"So... why don't you want to join drama? I know Tweek and Clyde would be happy to have you there. I would too."

He shrugged again. "It's just not my thing, drama is for dweebs. Like you."

"Thanks Craigy." I said, grinning annoyingly at him.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. I messed with my hair slightly and glanced around the room. Nothing too interesting. Pictures of Pc principal with some pretty woman and a group of children, all wearing sunglasses and looking like mini Pc principals.

'Is he a father?' I thought. Until now I had never even considered it. But the thought of him raising children was a strange one.

"Well, if you join us you don't have to actually do the show. You could work backstage on the lights, or help set up the scenery, or just... be there. I'm pretty sure a few people there don't even do anything at all."

Craig nodded. "That sounds like Kenny."

"Phfft, give Ken some credit. He has a really big role, he's one of the main dudes in Hamilton."

"Of course, he's a guy. Guys always get better roles in plays." 

I looked at him, surprised. "Wow, you know that? Most of the boys in drama don't even realize that." 

Craig shrugged once more. "I can't explain why I know that, but I do. I probably picked it up from Clyde and his ramblings." He said, leaning on the armrest of the chair farthest from me. 

"Cyde's cool." I hummed, picking my legs of the floor and sitting criss-cross on my semi-comfortable chair. I leaned back slightly but still continued to look in Craigs direction, and he ever-so-often would look back at me with his dark and shining eyes.

"You should know, you're basically just a more annoying him."

A snort escaped my mouth. "I'm going to take that as a compliment!" I said, picking my knees up to my chest and letting the extra weight topple me into the back of the chair. 

I sat and stared at the ceiling, when I realized something. 

"You know," I said. "The ceiling tiles here are the same."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they look exactly like the ones my old school used. It's weird. My old school was completely different from this one, in tons of ways. Here everybody knows each other, even if you aren't friends with everybody you still recognize them, and probably even know their names. Back in New York everybody had their groups, and everybody knew about other groups, but that was about it. I was a part of tons of groups, and I had friends all over the city, but I barely knew one sixth of the school, if that!" I said, still staring up at the greyish-white tiles.

"The city school was more diverse too. And I don't mean in the race way, I mean in the thinking way. Well, there were lots more ethnic people there too, but that's not the point. People there had so many different ideas, and so many different thoughts on any given subject. Sure, here people have their own opinions on things, but it's always on the same things, if that makes sense. In New York, you could ask people something simple, like, "Do you like the president?" and get wildly different answers. "Oh yes, he's wonderful!" "I want to have his babies!" "No he sucks I'll blow his head off!"" I said, changing my voice for each character.

"Once I asked a lady if she could spare some change, and she gave me her baby! Like, just handed her swaddled newborn to me and walked off. I had to call the police! New York city is a weird place is what i'm saying. I never found out what happened to the lady, or the kid. I was questioned by the police, they took the baby, and that was it. I just went along with my day."

"New york was an unstable environment, and I think it's wonderful. Probably because I'm used to it. Seriously, there could have been an earthquake and it wouldn't have been the weirdest thing that happened that day. Maybe it was just the way I lived..."

"It's just... strange. I know it's stupid, but I never would have expected a school as different as here to be built the same way my old school was. Fundamentally speaking, there are similarities everywhere, which is cool. Everywhere I go the sky is blue and the clouds turn grey when it rains. No matter where I am the salt on the ground crunches when I walk and tiny dogs yap when I walk past their houses. Everything's the same, and everything's different."

"I'm glad some things are the same, there's comfort in the familiar. But I could never live somewhere that always stays the same." I sighed. "I'm glad the two intersect a lot, if they didn't the world would just be pockets of chaos and pockets of boring grey neighborhoods. And I think that would suck."

I finally realized where I was, and shot up out of my position. I looked over at Craig, who was in the same position he was before, if a bit more comfortable. "Sorry! God, I must have been talking for a minute straight without a breath, how did you manage not to strangle a chatterbox like me?" I laughed.

He looked up at me, his eyes held something new. I couldn't place what. "It wasn't the worst story I've ever heard."

"Wowie Craig, you have such a way with words." I chuckled, putting my feet back onto the ground. I thought there was going to be another quiet moment, but to my surprise Craig moved his way out of the position he was in, and ended up facing me fully, staring directly at me.

I was startled slightly, Craig had given me at most a passing glance, so this laser-focused gaze was unexpected to say the least. 

"I'm going to join drama." He said. It sounded like it was directed at me, but it also sounded like he was speaking through me to the wall behind us. I didn't care though.

"Really?" I asked, bouncing up from the chair onto my feet. "That's great! Come on, let's go tell them!" I said, grabbing his clammy hand and pulling him out the door.

"MR. BLACKWELL! PC- Oh there you are." I said, realizing the two men were standing just outside the door, looking very suspicious. I rose an eyebrow. "Were you guys... spying on us?"

I already knew they were, Pc Principal looked very nervous under his glasses. Mr. Blackwell was an actor, so I couldn't ever be certain with him. 

"Ah, Craig. Have you made your decision?" Mr. Blackwell asked, completely ignoring me. 

Craig nodded. I let go of his cold hand, realizing it was weird that I was still holding on. 

Mr. Blackwell clapped his hands. "Wonderful! What made you change your mind?" I noticed Mr. Blackwell never asked what Craigs decision was.

Craig glanced at me. "A very rousing speech." He said, sounding sarcastic. I stuck my tongue out at him in response. 

Pc principal seemed happy, in his own way. "Very good, you two can head back to class now. Thank you for your cooperation." He said, practically shooing us away.

I spun on my heel and began to speed-walk away. I waved, Craig by my side since we had the same class. 

"Oh, and you two please meet me before class!" Mr. Blackwells voice boomed all the way down the hall. 

"I'll see you there!" I shouted.

"Okay." Craig said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y/n: (Blabbering about everything) 
> 
> Craig: (Never talking ever)
> 
> Me, purposly writing them like this: Oh my GOD THEY'RE OPPOSITES/////////


	18. Stan Marsh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day in theater. But Craig is there.

"Bye guys!" I shouted, running out of the classroom and past the long rows of lockers. I usually would have waited for Kenny, Tweek, and Clyde since we all had to walk the same way out of Mrs. Greys class. But today was different, whatever Mr. Blackwell wanted out of me and Craig meant we had to arrive early, and I didn't want to disappoint. 

As I ran down the hallways, my purse hit my hip with every other step. Whatever was in it that was hitting me was solid and hard, so I slowed my pace slightly to adjust it. Right as I did, a familiar figure decked in dark blue strolled quickly past me. I slowed even more, and as I watched Craig round the corner he glanced at me, then flipped me off.

I gasped. "Hey!" I yelled, abandoning my attempts to adjust my bag and running after him. I dodged other students as I chased after him, my eyes locked on him. I caught up to him, but didn't stop running. 

"There's no way you're beating me Tucker!" I shouted, running past him. As I continued to run I smiled to myself.

'I win.' I thought victoriously. 

Suddenly I heard a sound from behind me, like a group of people suddenly jumped out of the way all at once. Out of morbid curiosity, I turned my head, and out of my peripheral vision I saw the lanky form of Craig. His arms pumping and his face as stoic as ever. 

He flipped me off once more as he bolted past me. I stopped and doubled over with laughter. I looked back at the hallway of students, and everyone's face shared similar feelings of confusion and slight fear. I picked myself up, still laughing like a maniac. I couldn't explain why Craig running was so funny to me, maybe because I had never seen him do it before. Or maybe his intense expression. Whatever it was I didn't stop grinning until I finally reached the auditorium.

Craig was sitting in the back row of seats by the doorway, watching the kids who had arrived early with us mess around on stage. Mr. Blackwell wasn't here yet, so random kids were stacking the wooden crates we were using in place of chairs, and Gary Harrison, some random mormon kid I barely knew was climbing them while making pleasant conversation with the others.

I sat down next to Craig. "Damn. Gary has balls." I commented as they added another crate to the stack. Gary stepped back slightly and his left heel dipped over the side of the box, causing him to almost fall. He regained his balance and laughed it off, while his friends cheered.

Craig shrugged. "Yeah. I wouldn't tell Stan that, he doesn't like him."

"Why? Does Stan have something against mormons or something?" I asked, picking at my teeth.

"I don't know. I think he was a dick to Gary in 3rd grade or something, and Gary called him out on it." 

I quirked an eyebrow at Craig, who in turn just shrugged again. We for sat together for a minute, enjoying what was happening on stage in each others presence. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kennys P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I entered the auditorium, humming through my parka. I looked around and realized that for once I got to class on time, and somehow I was so early that Mr. Blackwell wasn't even here yet. I had no idea it was even possible to arrive before a teacher did. I only managed to get here on time because I hadn't screwed around with the guys or Y/n in the hallways. When the bell rang she just ran out of class, barely even saying goodbye. 

Craig seemed to leave class quicker than normal too. He watched Y/n leave and then walked out the door after her. I swear, something changed in his face as he watched him go. 

I looked around the room again, taking in the chaos kids got into when a teacher wasn't here to stop them. On the stage a group of boys were stacking crates and one boy was climbing onto them, seeing how high he could climb. I grinned and pulled my parka down from my mouth and shouted; "Hell yeah, go Gary!" 

The boys on stage whooped in agreement and went back to their conversation. I let my parka pull itself back up as I looked around the rest of the room, which didn't take long. 

"Where is Y/n? She has to have gotten here, she was running!" I told myself. Right as I said that, I caught sight of Y/n sitting by herself at the otherside of the auditorium. I thought it was kinda weird she was sitting all the way in the back, since she usually was chatting with the first person she sees. But I didn't question it.

"Y/n! Why did you run out of class like that?" I asked loudly. Y/n turned my way and smiled, but as I got closer I realized someone was sitting in the seat on the opposite side of her. 

"Kennyyy!" She said, shooting finger guns at me. I laughed and did the same to her, now seeing that it was in fact Craig sitting next to her. I grinned at him and waved, and in response he flipped me off. Y/n lightly shoved him. "Hey be nice!" 

Craig rolled his eyes and shoved her back, earning a giggle from Y/n. I sat down next to her, kicking my feet up on the empty seats in front of me. "What's crackin'?" She asked me, uncrossing her legs. 

"Not much, I can't believe I actually got here before the teacher." I commented.

She laughed. "Me too, he told me and Craig to meet him here before class. And then he keeps us waiting!" 

I leaned back in the chair to look over her at Craig. He still had his legs crossed towards Y/n, but now his gaze was fixed on the stage. His eyes were frozen, not following any movement. I sat straight again, and snapped my ungloved hand in front of his face, grazing Y/ns nose before she backed away.

"Hey Craaaig.... you alive there buddy?" I asked. The snaps seem to wake him up from whatever trance he was in, and after a half-second of stillness he swatted my hand away. 

"What do you want asshole?"

I grinned. "Whatcha thinkin' about?" I asked annoyingly. 

"Why do you care McCormick?" He scoffed in that ever-unaffected voice of his. Y/n pulled the the sleeves of her sweater wrapped around her waist, tightening it. Listening intently. 

I leaned in over, letting my head rest on my open palm against the armrest. I was close to Y/n, I could smell wafts of her shampoo. "Oh my dear sweet Craig, I care about what you think! We both do!" I said sweetly, fluttering my eyelashes. Y/n laughed. 

Craig looked unamused. "I'm thinking about how hard I'm going to beat your ass." 

Y/n laughed again, harder. "Craig nooooo! Ken's my friend!" She pleaded between giggles. Craig rolled his eyes, then flipped both of us off and turned away. I laughed along with Y/n, who wiped a tear from her eye. I couldn't help but notice how much Y/n laughed. I didn't care, I like people who laugh a lot.

Just then the door swung open, letting beams of the hallway lights into the dark auditorium. Mr. Blackwell stepped in, his strides wide and his face shining with sweat. "GARY GET DOWN FROM THERE. DO YOU WANT TO SNAP YOUR NECK?!" His voice boomed. After loudly scolding poor Gary, his eyes landed on the pair besides me. 

"Ah, Craig, Y/n. I apologise for my tardiness, I had to quickly print extra scripts and the nearest printer is in the middle school. If you two would please come with me to my office, i'll make this as fast as I can." He said, completely overlooking me. 

Y/n nodded as Craig simply stood up and waited to be lead. "Of course sir!" She said, standing up as well. Blackwell spun and began to walk them towards the stage. Y/n turned to wave to me. "Bye Ken! See you in a minute!"

I chuckled. I briefly wondered what to do, before catching sight of Tweek on the stage, setting up his little painting station as Gary and his friends put away the wooden crates. He had a coffee cup besides him, and was sipping hesitantly from it. I picked my stuff up and strolled to the stage, then dropped it all next to Tweek. to my surprise, he barely even twitched. He flinched, but not as grandly as he usually would have.

"Hey Tweek. You seem less explodey today." I commented, looking down at him. 

Tweek nodded, and took another sip from his coffee cup. "Y-yeah. I'm trying to drink less coffee." He held up his cup for me to see, and I couldn't feel any heat radiating off of it. "It's only water, s-see?" 

He sloshed it around, and indeed nothing but clear cold water splashed out of the top in small drops. I chuckled. "Nice, you trying something new?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Y-y/n said I should drink more water." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your P.O.V

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craig and I walked in the small side room behind Mr. Blackwell. It looked like it was just another dressing room with a few extra accessories. Mr. Blackwell sat down behind his large wooden desk that took up most of the room, and shuffled a few papers. Me and Craig awkwardly stood next to each other in the small space, since there was nowhere for us to sit, and waited for him to start talking.

Mr. Blackwell finally seemed to think his papers were sufficiently shuffled, and smiled up at us, leaning back in his metal chair. "Craig once again I'm very happy you decided to join us,-" Suddenly the door behind us burst open, causing me and Craig to jump back, practically onto his desk. 

"Mr. Blackwell, we need to borrow Y/n for her costume fitting." A very effeminate sounding man wearing a fluorescent pink shirt barely covering his chest exclaimed, waving a pen around in his very tan fingers. I glanced from him to Mr. Blackwell, completely dumbfounded. 

Mr. Blackwell sighed. "Very well Mr. Al, but please make it quick. I need to speak with her about our new student here, Craig." He said, gesturing grandly at him. Craig didn't looked phased in the slightest, so I just had to assume "Mr. Al" Was a normal face to see around South Park.

Mr. Al nodded. "Of course....!" He said, his voice sounding intrinsically confidant. He stepped out of the door and motioned for me to follow. I did, and closed the door behind me. As I did I briefly saw Mr. Blackwell hand one of the papers he had in his gruff hands to Craig.

Instead of walking towards the rows of dressing rooms like I thought we were, Mr. Al stopped a few steps away from the office, next to the large conveyor of ropes the stage crew so masterfully controlled. Partway in the shadows, and partway under the stage lights, just off stage left. "Ugh, it is so stuffy in that little room. I can't believe that silly man actually spends time in there!" He sighed. I shrugged and looked up at this large boisterous man. 

"I can't say I disagree with you sir, but he needs an office, doesn't he?" 

He sighed again and but his hands on his hips sassily. "Yeah I guess..." He said, staring wistfully off at the kids in their costumes goofing off on stage without Mr. Blackwell to lead them, chatting and practicing various dance routines no one could remember. "But if I were him, I'd spend all my time on stage!" He said, twirling and landing in a lunge as far as his body would let him, his arms flared above his head. 

"I'M SUPER! THANKS FOR ASKING...!" He sang proudly, dancing with each word. He loudly hummed the next few bars of whatever song he was singing, still dancing and twirling around. I grinned.

When he finished his little performance, he bowed deeply, breathing heavily. 

I applauded while laughing, which he seemed to like. "Thank you, thank you!" He practically sang again.

"I take it you're a performing type Mr. Al?" I asked, looking up at him curiously. He sighed, and again looked back at the kids on stage, his eyes full of melancholy like he didn't just break into song a moment ago. 

"Oh yes, those certainly were the days." He turned to me, his feminine voice turning happier in tone. "And you can just call me big gay Al honey bun, everybody does."

I laughed, then realized he was serious. "Oh! Uh, okay Mr. big gay Al." I tilted back on my heels, sticking my arms out to keep my balance. "I'm gonna make a wild assumption and say you're gay then?" I giggled.

He fluttered his eyelashes. "Guilty!" He said. "And I'm going to guess you are the famous little fuzzie who confused the whole school with your sexuality!"

"I am?" I said, standing upright and tilting my head.

Big gay Al laughed. "Oh yeah kid, I walked into here one day and all anybody could talk about was "Pansexual". I swear, I heard that stupid "Dating pans" joke more times that I can count!" He cried, finally shuffling away from the stage towards the dressing room I could here bustling with kids.

I laughed loudly. "Oh yeah, that joke haunts me. But I've heard it so many times it's grown on me like a zombie fungus." I said, pointing at my skull and making a gross face.

He laughed, covering his mouth and making it sound more like a giggle. "Oop, here we are!!" He sang, opening a nearby door and holding it open for me. "Come on in darling, let's get you all dressed up!" He shouted. I giggled and agreed, stepping inside and waiting for Big gay Al to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kenny P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I yawned and flopped down on my back. "Tweek, baby, I'm bored, how can you manage to just paint all class?" I groaned, looking upwards at the multicolored lights all cranked up to their brightest for some reason.

Tweek set down a small brush and picked up a much bigger one, my interest piqued there. "Don't you do t-this e-everyday with me?" He asked, lying back with me. 

I shrugged, feeling my boney shoulder blades rub against the wooden floor of the stage. "Bro for some reason today feels different, every second is like an hour. " I said, shutting my eyes and letting the sparkling dots spear under my eyelids.

I felt Tweek twitch as he started to answer. "GAK! I t-think it's because Y/n isn't here, without her the energy's all d-different."

I sighed. "Well if she's going to be away for this long with whatever Craig is doing here, i'm gonna go get a drink." I said, doing a backwards somersault and landing on my feet. I walked away from Tweeks and my little station, and towards the back room where a stray water fountain sat, slightly rusted and slightly weird tasting.

I took my time getting a long drink, since no one ever used the schools water fountains. I stopped to breath, letting the cool water continue to hit my parted lips. As I leaned in for more, I suddenly felt like somebody was behind me.

I let go of the button on the side and turned, barely seeing the semi-familiar face behind my hood. I unintentionally sank into my parka a tiny bit, and she definitely noticed.

"Ugh," She groaned, rolling her eyes. She puffed on her long cigarette, blowing it directly into my face. "I should have known a dweeb like her would hang out with a conformist pussy." 

I sighed and stood up straight. "What do you want...what's your name again? Henrietta?" I asked, pushing a piece of my hair into my hood out of my sight.

She but her hand on her hip, looking like she couldn't be bothered to move anymore. "Huh. So you're not completely stupid. Maybe Y/n was right about you."

I took my chances and grinned at her. "Oh you and Y/n have been talking about little old me~? " I asked, winking at her. 

She groaned, and rolled her eyes again. Apparently not amused at my antics. "Never mind, I don't know how she spends a whole period with you a day, idiotic conformist jock." She sighed, annoyedly.

'I'm a jock? " I thought, chuckling at the thought. Sure I exercise a bit, but I definitely wasn't a big tough sports person. A small part of me pondered on why Henrietta had even considered me as one. Did Y/n say something about me?

"Anyway, the only reason I'm even talking to you is because that douche and her have been hanging out a lot. I figure you should know, you seem to like her." She said vaguely, inhaling more smoke.

I rose my eyebrows. "You mean Craig? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's joining our class. Why should I care, he's her friend too." I said, leaning onto the water fountain.

She shrugged. "I thought a Edward-wannabe fuckboy like you would get jealous. I suppose I was wrong." She said, turning around and stalking off towards the shadows. 

I watched as she went, amused. When she disappeared around a corner I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore. 

"Oh my god, they would love this!" I cackled to myself, pulling out my cracked phone and opening Instagram. 

I held my phone above my head to get a better angle and started to record. "You guys are not gonna fucking believe this, but this random girl really just came up to me and basically said I should feel jealous because Y/n is hanging out with Craig?" I laughed, and pointed it towards Mr. Blackwells office. "This girl, really just assumed I would get mad because my friend has other friends. What has the world come to?"

I finished recording and posted it to my stories, seeing that pretty much all of team Stan was online at that moment. I scrolled through my feed, and decided I would wander around so I wouldn't have to do my work. 

Walking towards the various dressing rooms, liking every picture I saw. When suddenly a gasp echoed around me in big gay Als loud voice. I turned and caught sight of him, standing in front of an open dressing room door. He was clapping his hands rapidly, and dramatically whipped a tear out of his eye, he was gushing over something. 

I started to record again. "BIG GAY AL, WHAT ARE YOU SO EXCITED OVER?!" I shouted. He turned and noticed my phone, then posed and waved flirtily at it. 

He reached into the dressing room and tugged onto something from behind the open door. He pulled, his hands both clasped around an arm, and out popped a familiar figure decked in a red dress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regular P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big gay Al pulled lightly on the puffy sleeve of my dress, as to not tear it. His eyes were sparkling as I exited the room. Though, mine probably were too. I continued to look back at the large mirror to get a look at myself, in utter disbelief that a such a small school like South Park high would make something as lovely, and..uh... low cut as this dress.

I walked out onto the stage, and immediately Kenny yelled from across the floor at me. "Y/N, HOLY SHIT YOU LOOK GREAT!" 

I turned, and saw he was recording. Letting out an excited giggle, I curtsied, noticing happily that the dress had multiple lacey layers and was long enough to meet my ankles even when I lifted up the skirt as far as I could.

He ran over and lifted the phone above both of us, so I smiled and waved to the camera. Suddenly big gay Al gestures for me to get away from him and towards him in the middle of two or three other kids. 

As I carefully walked over, holding the front of my skirt so it wouldn't drag on the dusty floor, big gay Al rapidly described everything about what I was wearing. 

"As you can see, the dress was modeled after the original costume used on Broadway, multiple layers of different silks, laces, and other fabrics were used to create a very "puffed out" effect for the skirt, which contrasts with the tight torso piece, though of course since she is just an understudy, this dress is a tad less polished than the normal one." He explained Flauntingly to the vaugely interested looking theater kids.

"And of course, because of the character traits Maria Reynolds is best known for showing, her outfit was designed after that, especially the skirt, which was designed to look like a pair of velvet curtains!"

I laughed out loud as I realized that, yes, my skirt was very much similar to the large velvet curtains hanging near me, curtains that would open upon my bare legs and other hidden body parts. I was both impressed by the clever symbolism and amused that I was the one showing it off.

"Twirl for us honey." He said, wounding his fingers around to demonstrate. I stepped into one foot and spun myself around, outstretching my arms to keep my balance and giggling happily like a dork as big gay Al continued to rave about his handy work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3rd P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craig slammed the stack of papers onto Mr. Blackwell's desk, and with the polar opposite intensity said, "No."

Mr. Blackwell slumped over in his chair, not looking surprised, but still looking very tired mentally.

"Craig please, all the others boys are already playing multiple characters, and this character has less a page of dialogue-" 

"No." He interrupted, sternly staring his teacher down with the unwavering resilience he was known for. "I only joined this class because I had to, I never said I'd join in!" 

Mr. Blackwell rested his head in his large hands, trying to think. Finally something came to him. "I'm sure you weren't expecting to actually take on a role, but I assure you it's much easier than you think. And I'm sure the class would be happy to let you join, I know Y/n is." He said.

Though Mr. Blackwell wasn't as young as he used to be, he had a sharp pair of eyes. And immediately noticed the way the young man standing in front of him subtly broke eye contact and seemed to unclench his jaw. 

He leaned in, and appeared to understand. At least partially, that the mention of the young woman made something change within him. Whether it was friendship or perhaps something more he didn't know, but it was enough. 

Mr. Blackwell leaned back. "I understand that you are probably nervous. How about I get a student to "show you the ropes", as they say?" He offered, watching carefully.

Craig crossed his arms and grimaced, preparing himself to flip off the teacher. "I said, no." He responded, turning around and opening the door, for some reason feeling much more hostile than normal.

He took less than a step out the door, and froze. Mr. Blackwell stood up and stepped over to see what had grabbed his attention, and saw that Y/n had put on her dress. It was baggy in strange places, obviously it hadn't been properly fit to her measurements. But she looked happy, and her confidence made her shine.

He smiled and looked down at the boy, who's eyes were locked on her. Though to someone on the outside, Craig appears as uninterested as ever,. "Perhaps Ms. L/n? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you."

Craig snapped out of it and looked up at the man, annoyed, but considering the offer. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, give me the script." 

Mr. Blackwell smiled and said nothing more, handing over the extra script he hadn't let go of. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stan's P.O.V.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket, pulling me out of my concentration. I glanced in my pocket to see my lit up screen with one extra notification on my lockscreen.

"Instagram: KennyisanEgirl just posted a story!" 

I briefly wondered why he was posting in the middle of the day, but realized he was in drama. Where according to him, he could just pull out his phone at any time as long at his teacher was in a good mood.

I rose my hand, interrupting the science teachers drone. 

"Yes Stanley, do you have something to add?'

I kept my hand up. "Uh, no sir. I just have to use the bathroom."

He sighed and checked the clock. "Make it quick."

I nodded and stepped out of the room, unlocking my phone inside my pocket. I didn't take it out until I reached the bathroom, and held my breath as I entered. 

I was lucky, there was no one else inside, so I didn't have to go inside any of the stalls for privacy. I just had to avoid looking at the disgusting bathroom floor and I was set.

I tapped into Instagram and watched the story. Kenny was somewhere, I assume the stage. He looked excited about something, I could hear the laughter in his voice. 

"You guys are not gonna fucking believe this, but this random girl really just came up to me and basically said I should feel jealous because Y/n is hanging out with Craig?"

I rose an eyebrow and held the phone closer to my face.

He turned the camera and pointed at a random door. "This girl, really just assumed I would get mad because my friend has other friends. What has the world come to?"

I felt weird. I knew that Kenny, was right, but I still suddenly felt jealous of Craig. I shook off my feelings.

The story ended, but another one followed. Kenny was in a different part if the stage, since the lights looks slightly different. 

"BIG GAY AL, WHAT ARE YOU SO EXCITED OVER?!" He called to a happy looking big gay Al. He pulled out of a nearby door Y/n wearing a red dress.

I gasped, and felt my ears go slightly warm. I hadn't ever seen her wear something so pretty. It sounds stupid, but she was pretty. 

I felt like kid again, looking at her. All I could think of how to describe her were words little kids used. I wasn't a poet, but I suddenly wanted to be if it meant so could describe her better in that grainy video.

I didn't comprehend anything Kenny was talking about, I just kept watching. Suddenly the video focused on a far-away figure of Craig, looking at Y/n.

I wanted to collapse onto the nasty floor, I knew they were just friends, I knew Y/n had a right to hang around anyone she wanted, and Craig didn't even look into her.

'So why am I so jealous?!' I thought.

I groaned, and shut off my phone, knowing it wasn't doing me any good. But the videos kept replaying in my head.

I groaned again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention it, but when the chapter is names after a character, it means they realize their feelings.


	19. Vampires and Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While waiting for the girls to finish, you stumble upon someone.

"Let's go cows, green and white!"

"Let's go cows, Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Go...... SOUTH PARK!"

I watched bemusedly as the girls all practiced their individual cheers, their green and white pom-poms flourishing with each step they took. As promised, I was waiting for the girls to finish their practice so we could all sleepover at my house. I sat on a random bleacher, in between all of their frilly backpacks filled to the brim with different outfits and blankets and everything else under the sun. 

Lisa stumbled over onto her hands and knees practically making her orange glasses fall off, and for a moment I thought she had fallen. But a second later Bebe fell onto her hands and knees alongside her, and I realized they were forming a pyramid. 

Nichole and Red each put their arms out, then from behind them all Wendy took a running start and leaped onto of the two girls below her, one foot on each of their backs and using Nichole and Red to steady herself. In a flash, Nichole and Red pulled themselves up alongside Wendy, her arms stretched above her head and basically supporting the other two. They all chanted, smiling widely and happily, Wendy leading them as the captain.

When they finished their little formation, the girls on top were quick to get off of poor Bebe and Lisa, who looked ready to collapse. "Great job guys!" Wendy said, her voice echoing around the nearly empty gym. I couldn't hear what anyone responded, but Wendy seemed pleased.

Bebe adjusted her large blonde ponytail of curls resting on her bare shoulder. "Alright team, let's do the rest and then we can finally leave!" She shouted. The other girls cheered. I could see Wendy's disgruntled face from across the room, but she still laughed.

"Only if we can go to the bathroom, my fake eyelashes a slipping." Nichols commented, she was met by a team of nods. They went back to their routines, and I began to zone out. 

Suddenly I heard a series of voices echo from beneath me. I tried to ignore the loud shouts from the girls and put my head down next to a slot in the bleachers, trying to hear them more clearly. 

"Please, settle my subjects, I'm sure there is a solution to this. We have survived through much worse."

The voice was eerily recognizable, which was probably what rose out of my comfy area and very carefully crawled to the edge of the bleachers, cringing when any of my limbs thumped against the metal too loudly. 

The loud cheers settled into the back of my mind as I arrived at the edge of the bleachers. I gripped the underside of the seats I was squished between, and leaned over the end.

As I leaned over, my hair fell loose. My head was upside down, but I ignored the feeling of blood rushing to my brain, because I spotted a tall-ish figure in the dark underbelly.

With the bright green hair, handsomely long coat, and the loud nasally voice, it didn't take me long to realize who the figure was. 

I felt my head get heavy, but I continued to watch the apparent meeting. The group of other kids behind him were all whispering among themselves. I strained my ears, but could only pick up bits and pieces of the hushed conversations.

"Wholefoods will regret this... "

"I'm weak...."

"So... Hungry... "

They all hissed lowly over each other. "I wonder what Wholefoods did... " I mumbled to myself. 'Obviously something to do with whatever they eat.'

"Hello?" I heard Mike call. I quickly threw myself upward and sat quietly, because who else could he be referring to?

I waited for what felt like ten minutes, not moving, and hardly breathing. "It must have been a Vamp-kids meeting I stumbled upon, nothing more." I reasoned as my knees started to hurt. But I still felt like I had seen something I wasn't supposed to, and any moment a hoard of tiny children covered in fake blood would rise up and stab me.

Or... something. 

I put my ear near the bottom again, and thankfully heard that the mumbles had resumed, though they were much quieter after my interruption.

I sighed out of relief and stood up, then quietly made my way to the other side. I jumped down and sprinted into the bathroom, realizing the second I hit the ground that I was in full view of any one under the bleachers.

I sat down on the toilet without pulling down my bottoms. I sighed, "Welp, I guess I'm staying here till the girls rescue me." 

I listened, realizing the echoey gym was oddly quiet. As the silence sunk in, I face palmed. "Oh! They must have all left to the bathroom!" I groaned. The closest bathrooms were through the other gym doors, so of course it made sense I didn't notice them leave while I was wrapped up in the vampire meeting.

I waited and few minutes, feeling slightly bored. Finally I heard something from beyond the door, a hushed chatter that seemed to be moving away. I put two and two together and realized that the meeting must have ended. The huge group of vamp-kids I heard before were leaving the gym in a pack.

I waited a couple more minutes, impatiently counting the seconds until I was sure no one was left. After about five minutes of restlessness, I decided it was safe. I stood up, then of course almost fell over because my legs were asleep. I stumbled to the door and opened it.

I glanced around like anyone would, not expecting to see anything unusual. Unfortunately a pale face was staring at me from the shadows next to me, and my first response was to jump away. I stumbled back, causing my hip to smack right against the bathroom doorknob.

My fight or flight reflexes kicked in, and my hand dug into my pants pockets and whipped the contents under the bleachers with my full power. 

I heard the clinking of my pennies hitting the floor, but I mostly heard whoever the face belonged to grunting as my pocket garbage beat him over the head. Before I could run away it shouted a nasally, "Hey!" 

My eyes widened as I pieced together in my head who must have been under there. I stood still as he reached his leg over the metal banister and stumbled out, his big coat swishing dramatically. It really contrasted with his disgruntled face.

I held back a laugh. "Oh sorry!" I said hopping over to him. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be watching me when I stepped out of the bathroom." 

He gladly took the arm I offered him and dusted himself off. "Well I was hoping to sneak up on you, but I suppose this is also a way to begin a conversation." He said, turning to look at me.

I blew a raspberry and stepped around him as I responded. "Dude, why were you even trying to sneak up on me? We've met, you could have just talked to me babe." I said, dropping to my knees and sliding my torso under the bleachers, reaching under as far as I could.

I could hear his confusion in his voice, but he said nothing about the grasping around for my pennies. "Well my little bat, I saw you hanging upside down and spying on our meeting. I just wanted to know exactly what you were interested in."

As I scrounged up every coin, I reemerged from under the bars and turned back to him. "Oh, I wasn't really interested in anything. I just heard whispers from underneath my stuff and wanted to know what was up." 

He nodded.... Broodingly? He looked deep in serious thought, but over what I couldn't tell. I mean, he still had bits of eraser in his hair. He glanced at my hand, struggling to push the pennies back into my tiny girl pockets. 

"You seem rather desperate to keep those five cents."

I grinned. "You'd be surprised how much some extra change can help you."

I pointed towards my bag on the bleachers, proudly. "In my bag I have a dollar and twenty eight cents, with these pennies I'll have $1.33. All I need is 77 cents more, and I can buy a piece of candy each for me and my brother!" My explanation was long winded, but he asked for it.

His mouth was slack, I could see his plastic teeth. "Well, that should be easy right? You could probably ask your mom for that. "

The laughter that escaped me felt rawer than nothing before. "Please, I can't even afford a phone!"

"Surely your mom could spare less than a dollar?" He said, looking bewildered that I would imply she couldn't.

I began to walk back to my spot up on the bleachers, hoisting my legs up to reach each row. He followed. "It doesn't really matter if she can, I just don't want to ask too much of her." I hopped over Wendys backpack into my empty space. I looked all the way down at the gym floor, covered in different colored tapes.

"She works so hard to keep me and my brother happy, I don't want to put any more weight on her shoulders, even if it's tiny." 

I glanced over at him, sitting himself down outside the little barricade of bags. He was gazing at the gym floor too, taking in what I was saying. I noticed how greasy the black part of his hair was, like it was constantly being oiled. It was surprisingly nice looking, I wanted to stroke it.

"That... doesn't sound right." 

I laughed and flopped onto Bebe's pink duffle bag. "Yeah, saying it out loud it sounds waaay more depressing!"

He looked back to me. "No, seriously, I mean that doesn't sound healthy." He picked up my purse and scootched closer to me, then leaned over my face, his long hair just reaching my ear. I wasn't expecting him to be this close, and his hair was practically tickling my neck. 

"I like your eye-liner." I said, trying to ease the tension. Though I'm pretty sure that just made him realize how strange our position was, his face right above mine, my thigh touching his knee. 

He smiled skittishly. "T-thanks. I like yours."

"That sentiment might mean more if I were actually wearing any." 

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've seen you around school. You're always helping somebody with their problems, or making them feel better." 

"Thank you?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"But," He looked away from me. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone help you with yours, at least to the extent you do."

"Phft, people help me with my junk all the time. A couple days ago I was having problems and my friends got me out of school to help me calm down." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest.

He layed back onto Bebe's bag next to me, so I could just see his pale face out of the corner of my eye. I continued. "And what about you? I heard a little of that meeting, and it sounds like you have lots of problems you gotta deal with." I said in a questioning tone.

"My children of the night are ...restless lately, it's causing me to feel much less powerful." He sighed. 

I stared up at the gym ceiling, it's complex lighting system confusing me. "Do you wanna talk about it?" 

He sighed again. "Maybe...." He sat up quickly. "Wait no!" He looked over at me. "This is exactly what I was saying! I was trying to say you always work yourself too hard for people, and then we somehow started talking about my problems!"

I was silent for a second, my eyes widened. I sat up next to him, and stared at my knees, knowing in my stomach that he was right. "...Huh." I said simply.

I glanced at him, and saw that he had been looking at me. "Originally, I was going to say you were running yourself too thin for your friends. But...." I fiddled with my hair. "Maybe we both are. In different ways."

We both were quiet for a moment, drinking in the realization. I knew I had to say something.

"Sometimes I do things for people because I want them to feel nice, but now I'm thinking maybe I don't do enough nice stuff for just me.... You know what I'm saying?"

He nodded. "Let's see... try imagining you and one of your friends are bleeding. Would you tend to you, or them first?" 

I imagined the first person who came to mind, Clyde on his knees, clutching his arm that was violently gushing blood. My arm was doing the same thing. After a second of hesitation, I responded. " ... Him." I grabbed my head. "Oh no.... That's not a good attitude to have, is it?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. 

"Ah... No. Not at all." 

I rested my head on my hand. "Ugh, I should work on that." I tapped my fingers, then smiled slightly. "Okay, now you."

He stumbled a little without moving. "Oh, uh. Yes, that's fair." He thought a moment, mimicking my stance. "I suppose I do sort of the same thing, but with my followers. Whenever there's a problem I always try and solve it without any help, like a good leader should!" 

I nodded. "From what I can tell you do a good job. I've never heard any one complain about you." I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

He gave me a toothy smile. "Thanks. But I know I do too much. Plus, there are other things that stress me out on top of my responsibilities."

"Like what?" I moved closer. 

"I'm not sure if I should say... It would be telling a non-vampire one of our secrets, which is unheard of."

I shrugged. "Is it the food thing I heard you talking about, Wholefoods or whatever?" I asked, trying to remember exactly what those hushed murmurs were so agitated over.

He chuckled. "Oh you heard that part? No, we can find a cheaper place to shop for Clamato juice. What's taking up my mind about is something I can't openly talk about in our meetings." He explained, twiddling his thumbs.

"Clamato juice?" I shuddered. "I don't want to be rude, but that sounds like an incredibly cursed drink."

"I can understand that, it does take some getting used to."

I exhaled out my nose. "Well then, what's the issue? If you wanna talk about it of course." I added on quickly. He reached into his long coat and pulled out a phone, be simple black bat pattern case. I tilted my head as he entered in a long password and swiped through his various apps. I knew what it was like to work a phone, and some different apps. But I was still always captivated by them, wondering what app did what, or just wanting to touch the glossy screen. Maybe I was just enthralled by what I could never have.

His phone had a simple black background with a pair of yellow eyes, one with an upside down cross in it's pupil, and the other with a pentagram. It was edgy, but who was I to judge? I watch Sesame street with my brother. He tapped on the familiar Instagram icon, and in a few strokes was onto the video I knew all too well. I tried to hide my confusion as he pushed his phone towards my face. "I know you don't have a phone, but do you know her? She's some new villain."

I nodded, feeling my mouth tighten into a small line. Of all the people to talk about my secret life, the friendly bloodsucker was not one I was expecting. He kept going. "I don't want to say their names, but last night two of my younger vamps quit. When I asked why, they said they had found a new person to lead them."

I inhaled sharply through my teeth, knowing without further explanation which little vampires he was referring to. He continued to explain to me the details I already knew, Ashling's and Jade's presence in the video, the swarm of bats that Mike recognized as his, the theories that they had been brainwashed. I was stuck, nodding and praying I was good enough of an actor to hide my fear.

'How did I not think about them until now?' I thought. 'Of course people are going to recognize them, they're wearing no disguises besides the makeup, and they always wear that!' I screamed at myself.

"I just don't know what to do. I'm torn." He sighed, mussing up his hair. "I'm the only one who knows their true names, everyone else only knows them by their vampire names. If I tell people who they are, then the poor kids lives would be ruined."

I nodded, no longer preoccupied by my own thoughts. "But the thing is, by keeping their identities a secret, I'm helping her. She's a bringer of destruction, I don't want to let her get away with bad stuff! If I were to reveal them, maybe the police could track her down..." He said, looking...emotional.

I sat in awkward silence for a second, my feelings divided. Of course, I didn't want him to discover my identity. There was no way I could ever allow him to, under any circumstances. But, seeing his desperate face made me feel bad. He was trying so hard to keep everything under control, and now he was faced with a conundrum that he lost either way in. Unless he somehow found out all the theories were a lie, eventually he would probably spill everything.

I took a deep breath and looked him in a the eye, knowing my silence could be used against me. "Well... How do you know she's bad?"

He seemed startled by this. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, who's to say the kids are in danger? Maybe they just like working for her."

I tried to seem as casual as possible while speaking. He didn't seem convinced, so I kept going. "I mean, I've heard the theories. All they have for evidence is one video, it seems really likely that those kids are just playing along. And," I realized. "I don't think she's really done anything bad yet, has she? The Operaette just fought a bunch of heroes, maybe she's just messing around?" 

He didn't talk, but I could tell from his face he was genuinely thinking it over. I sighed in relief, and kept chattering. "I think the best course of action would be to wait. If she does something bad, then report their names. If all she ever does is fight the boys who want to fight her, then there's nothing you could really report her for."

It made sense in my head. Even if I was some mastermind villain now, I never planned on doing anything actually sinister. I just wanted to goof off with Butters and annoy the boys. If I ever did something truly evil, then I hope I get caught.

He sighed and looked over at me. He gave me a small smile, and his little plastic fangs poked out from under his lips. I stared at him, side-eyed for a second. I burst out laughing, causing him to jump back. "I'm sorry!" I cackled. "You look like a fucking... Oh my god I can't remember what it's called..." I groaned, laughing a little. I gasped. "Wait! Gimme your phone!"

He handed it to me, watching intently, and after a second of confusion I made it to the google search bar. I quickly typed in:

:3

And gave it back to him. I pointed at it and grinned. "That! You look like that but with fangs!" I exclaimed. His face went slightly pink under his makeup, and he held up on of his fingers, instructing me to wait. I sat still as he frantically typed something different into the search bar. After a moment he handed it back to me, and pointed it out proudly on the search bar.

(•ᵥᵥ•)

I giggled loudly. He joined me, staring at his creation, and after a second of small chuckles we both were roaring with laughter. Every time I began to die down, I looked at his stupid face and started to laugh again. I leaned on him, and he leaned on me. While I was quietly giggling, he looked over at me on his arm and sighed happily. "Thank you for talking to me."

I look back. "Same to you, this was nice."

At that moment, the gym doors slammed open, and the girls burst forth. They all sprinted up onto the bleachers and gathered their stuff, not even bothering to look at Mike. He fell backwards onto his back, and glanced up at me with wild eyes. I laughed and shrugged through the girls legs.

I picked up my purse from next to him, and was swept away by the girls. I looked back and waved, "Same time next week?" I shouted over their talking.

He nodded. I joined in the conversation, feeling satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My mans. I love him.


	20. Dude. Girls are insane.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fun day at the park! Only a minimal amount of blood! :D

Kyles P.O.V.

We were all hanging out at Stans place after school. Terrance and Phillip was blaring in the background on Tv while we all fought each other in mortal combat. It was the middle of the afternoon and we had tons of time to kill. It was me against Cartman, and he was beating my ass.

"Kyle you should just give up now, your retarded jew ass has never beat me." He said, his eyes glued to the screen as he pushed away at his controller. 

I scoffed. "I'm surprised your pudgy fingers can even hit the buttons fatass."

Stan, who was sitting in between us and watching laughed. "Don't say that too loud, next thing you know PC principal will be breaking down my door."

Cartman rolled his eyes while still somehow doing a complicated combo-move. "Weak, why are we talking about school? We have a precious twelve hours left until school starts tomorrow, and I would like to not think about it, or the asswipes there until then." 

"Speaking of school," Kenny said immediately, scrolling through his phone. "Literally the entire class is at the park for some reason." 

Cartman huffed. While he was distracted I did huge combo attack and pushed his health bar down. 

Stan leaned behind me to look at Kenny. "Why? Is there gonna be a fight?" there

Kenny was busily liking and scrolling through all the posts. "I don't know, the cheerleaders all posted pics of themselves there, and the rest of my feed is just other people there." His eyes lit up. "Oh look, Y/n is with them!"

He pointed the phone towards us, to my surprise Cartman looked up immediatly. I was going to as well, but decided last minute to spam my buttons and finish him off. The screen displayed the familiar KO, and Cartman snapped his head back to the game as I smiled at my victory. 

As he angrily ranted at all of us, I turned to look at the picture. It was the entire cheer squad sitting on the blue monkey bars at the parks playground. Y/n was hanging upside down from them, a big happy grin on her face like the camera caught her mid-laugh.

" "Me and the girls heard about the free ice cream at the park!! It's only for students, so you all need to get here!!!" Posted two hours ago. " I read aloud. It had about 400 likes and all the comments were things along the lines of 'I'm on my way!'.

I glanced back up at the picture, and noticed that they all had some form of ice-cream in their hands. I smiled, feeling warm inside at how happy they all looked, especially Y/n with her blue-stained lips.

I realized Cartman stopped yelling about his defeat, and had started violently tapping through his own phone. Though since I was right next to him I saw he wasn't really doing anything.

Kenny casually walked to the front door and pulled it open. He turned back to us and said, "It looks like fun, I'll think I'll go." In a perfectly average tone. But I knew him too well, his eyes were shiny with excitement behind the front of his coat that magically always found a way to cover his face.

As the door slide closed behind him and the crunch of his icy footsteps disappeared, I turned to Stan who looked mildly interested.

"Dudes, I think Kenny is planning something." I said, mostly at Stan since Cartman was still pointlessly fidgeting with his screen.

Stan looked from the Tv screen to me. The Terrance and Phillip soundtrack briefly occupying my mind in his silence. "What do you think he's gonna do?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Knowing him, probably something stupid. Wanna go see it?"

He smiled back. "You know it bro." We both stood up and stretched in unison, our joints crying out since we had been in the same positions for so long. I glanced down at Cartmans now-dark screen, and we made eye contact through the reflection. I didn't see anything different in his eyes, but a strange twang of emotion buzzed in the back of my head, one that I couldn't identify.

I looked away. "Cartman, are you coming?"

He rolled his eyes. "Everyone at school is gonna be there, by the time we get to the ice-cream they probably won't have any sprinkles left."

Stan opened the door and a small gust of wind blew in fresher air. "Cartman I promise you they will have sprinkles."

He crossed his arms. "And what if they don't?!"

"Then I'll owe you a favor." He sighed, glaring back at us. "C'mon, are we going or not?"

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Time skip

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Your P.O.V

I giggled and slurped on the side of my Popsicle, sucking the flavor out of it. The girls laughed at me and copied me with their ice-creams, except for Bebe, who got a regular vanilla cone she was trying her hardest to not spill.

"Okay okay," Nichole laughed. "I get why you would eat it like that, but why are you eating it from the side like that? You're face is all blue now!"

"Because!" I chuckled, waving my Popsicle around. "It would look weird if I did it like this!" I shoved the Popsicle into my mouth length wise, and loudly sucked on it. Making sure to make the most obnoxious noises I could. The girls all laughed loudly, clutching their sides as I slightly choked myself on accident.

Bebe stepped into the middle of our little circle, a devilish grin adorning her ruby lips. "Please girl, this is how you do it." In one move she bit off the bottom of her cone in a deafening munch, then sucked onto the bottom of it, making the most offensively disgusting gulping and spluttering noises as she did. The vanilla dripped down her face as she messily tried to swallow it, and even the most innocent of souls would have been a blushing mess. Though as her friend, I mostly just saw a stupid attempt at eating all of her ice-cream in a single mouthful, and failing miserably.

We all tried not pee out pants from hysteria and ignoring the various stares we were getting from the other students milling about. Honestly speaking, a group of girls deep throating ice cream was not the weirdest thing that has happened at the park today.

Suddenly my gaze was pulled from my girlfriends, onto a light purple figure sitting alone on top of a picnic table, delicately eating a blue-raspberry popsicle. The same as mine.

"Wow..." I whispered. She had shiny straight blonde hair that she wore in two thick braids under a golden headband, and from what I could see she was wearing something straight out of a fairy tale princess closet. Long purple robes and the the most elegant of skirts.

'Maybe she's a cosplayer.....' I thought, trying to cool my hot face with my frigid fingers. 'That's so cool.... Oh no I'm in love. ' I realized, also acknowledging I didn't know a thing about this girl, let alone if she were cool.

I found myself walking over the table, holding my head high to impress her. As I got closer and the snow under my feet turned to frosty grass, I saw that her face was really similar to someone I already knew. Who was it? Someone from New York? No, it definitely had a South Park feel... Whatever I was thinking of, she seemed to do the same to me as I slid next to her.

"Hey girl, I love your dress!" I said chirpily, dear god I was nervous. What if she was straight, and doesn't want to be my friend? Is this gay panic?

She looked quizzically at me for a second, then seemed to have made up her mind. She smiled sweetly. "Why thank you~" She giggled in voice that made me want to melt. I chuckled nervously, falling back on my instincts.

"So.... Come here often?" I asked, making it clear I was being cheesy and stupid on purpose. 

That giggle again. "I come here tons with my friends, but we're usually on the basketball courts."

I followed her gloved finger to the blacktops, where the unsupervised teenagers were all standing eerily in a circle, their arms outstretched and straight around them. Like a lowercase t. I put two and two together, and with my limited internet knowledge realized they were t-posing. 

"I don't know how I feel about that." I said, turning back to her. I tilted my head. "Are you cold? That dress doesn't look very warm."

She shrugged. "One, I'm wearing a jacket under this, and two, why do you ask?"

"Because one, your face is all pink. And two, wearing a jacket??" I glanced at her dress, it was form fitting, and I couldn't see how a proper jacket wouldn't bulge out.

She nodded. "A parka." 

I lit up. "Oh, I have a friend who wears a parka!"

She looked amused and interested.

I scootched closer, my stomach fluttered. "Yeah, my friend Ken. He's super cool." I grimaced suddenly. "Are you sure you're not cold? Your face is getting pinker."

" I... I'm positive in fine." For once she stumbled on her words. "What about you? You're all shakey, the cold is probably killing you!" 

I stuck out my tongue. "You wish!" I laughed, and she did too. 

Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me. "K-kenny! Eric is st- stuck in the monkey b-bars, he needs your he-help!" I turned and was met face to face with Tweek, looking vaguely confused. But I didn't have time to worry about that.

"KEN?!" I yelped, nearly falling back. "What are-? Why are you dressed like that?!" All of my nervousness before was swept away by embarrassment. I was flirting with Kenny. Kenny. God, of all people.

He blew me a kiss. "Oh did I never mention Princess Kenny?" He laughed in his normal voice. "Yeah, she's a character I made in 5th grade."

"Ken, what the fuck." I said, trying to suppress my flustered laughter. "Well, congratulations. You made me fall in love with someone who doesn't exist. Good luck with running around in those heels you crackhead."

He gracefully stood up, dramatically swishing his dress as he did. He leaned down to my level, almost bowing. He met my gaze and planted an elegant kiss on my hand. "Just watch me." He muttered, smirking up at me. He dropped my hand and strutted through the playground, never once stumbling. It reminded me of the Operaettes shoes, I was always able to walk and fight, but running was not a strong-suit. And here Kenny was practically sprinting on the frozen, uneven ground without any trouble.

"He left lipstick on my hand."

Tweek didn't follow him. His eyes were wide and they darted every which way, like always, but this time he had the expression of someone who was trying to figure something out.

"A-are you and Kenny d-dating?" He asked me before I could say anything. His voice was clearer than normal, like for once his head wasn't occupied with a million thoughts a second.

I nearly dropped the Popsicle I forgot I had. "What?" I asked, feeling nervous again.

"Do you like Kenny?" He said, this time without stuttering at all.

"No! He's just my friend, why are you asking?"

He blinked, and suddenly seemed both nervous and deeply relieved. "It's j-just that, he kissed your h-hand, and you were k-kinda f-flirting with him!"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Oh....Okay, I can kinda see where you would get that idea." I admitted, grinning at my own stupidity. "But Kenny is like that to everybody, don't worry about it."

He yanked at the collar of his shirt. "What about y-you?!"

I tilted my head. "Me? Oh! You mean the flirting?" I asked, embarrassed. He nodded enthusiastically. "I kinda.... maybe... thought that Ken was a girl.... and I thought she was pretty...." I said, his judgemental stare piercing my brain. "B-but in my defense!" I spluttered, crossing my arms in front of me. "I'm very attracted to blondes, so my brain was basically a pile of jelly. I didn't see him under that dress."

I laughed, and dropped my arms. "Oof, I sound stupid." I glanced back to him, and saw that his eyes were wider than ever and his face was dusted with red.

I began to walk in a random direction, "Come on, everyone in the grade is here!" I said, changing the subject. He nodded rapidly and ran up next to me, even as we strolled along through the huge crowd of teenagers I could feel his peeks at me, and he was so close I could smell the coffee on him.

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Time skip

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"IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, DIE MOTHERFUCKER!" Clyde screamed as he threw his bare popsicle stick at Cartman.

"HA! YOU MISSED ME FAG-" Cartman began before Craig and Kyle both threw theirs at him at the same time. They hit him in the face, and for a moment he was just angrily standing there, obviously wondering who to attack. All of the girls near me laughed at him, and he seemed to make up his mind.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?!" He yelled at us. We all laughed again at how red his face was. "What do you think, fat-ass?" Bebe yelled back.

He stomped over to her, and we all grouped closer to her. For a second this seemed to over power him, but he didn't back down. "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned." He fumed. "But you know who is fat? That slut right behind you."

We all looked to behind Bebe to see a startled and nervous looking Lisa. Cartman kept going as I felt the groups anger grow in me, I began to shift through our small pack to the front. "Look at her! She looks like someone overstuffed her, dude she's probably the grossest thing here!"

"Oh that's rich coming from you Cartman." I snarled, enjoying the shocked look on his face. "I can practically see the greasy sweat you're covered in just from walking over here. I can't believe you would have the nerve to bring Lisa into your angry little rant, you pathetic excuse of a human being."

He took a small, but noticeable step back. He steadied himself and glared down at me. "What are you talking about stupid? All I said was she's fat. You chicks need to calm the fuck down."

Nichole laughed from behind me. "So by your logic, Bebe calling you fat-ass is fine?"

"N-no! That's different, because I'm not fat!"

I strode over to him, my sudden movements causing him to jerk back and break his glare with me. I kept walking towards him, and to my satisfaction I heard the girls follow me. "It doesn't matter if your fat, or if she's fat. It doesn't matter what anybody looks like until they're a jerk, if somebody, like you, is acting like the scum of the earth, then everybody is allowed to make fun of your appearance." I stuck my finger into his chest. "So yes, it's completely different you walking slime."

I stepped aside, so the he could properly see the girls behind me. Lisa was still standing behind Bebe, who was more pissed looking than I was. But she also had probably the most sinister looking smile of all of us, just behind Wendy. Obviously the girls liked see me rip Eric a new one.

"...That doesn't make any sense!" He weakly retorted. Wendy rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't get it. What a surprise." She hissed.

"Apologize." Red said. Her voice almost made me shudder.

Eric suddenly looked like his normal cocky self, and stepped towards us. "Fuck you bitches, I'll never say sorry for telling the truth." He smiled to himself. "If you think about it, I'm a hero! Saying the things that no one else will, because I'm not a pussy!"

Wendy turned to Lisa, who was looking more confidant surrounded by her friends. "Should we?" Lisa looked at Cartman and nodded. "Get 'em girls." She whispered.

At once the girls all ran up to Cartman and tackled him, but I didn't see much after that because the sheer force of their combined movements shoved me back. I fell backwards and prepared myself to hit the cold wet ground, and part of me did. The slick ice beneath me soaked through my thin pants instantly, but the rest of me stayed dry. Something warm caught me just in time.

I found my way back standing. "Are you okay?" Tokens soft voice said, clutching my wrist to keep my standing. "Jesus your hands are cold." He said, cupping my hands in his before I could respond. I chuckled, ignoring the sounds of struggle behind me.

"Yeah, I don't have any gloves. I usually shove them in my pockets, but I had to eat so...."

He scrunched his eyebrows. "Oh. Really?"

"Yeah! That's kinda why I want to learn how to knit." I admitted.

"Oh my god. I completely forgot we were doing that." He said, face palming. He ran his fingers through his thick hair.

I laughed at his awkwardness. "We still have time dude-bro. Now uh..." I said. "We should maybe get away from all of this." I said loud enough for everyone in the pile to hear. The girls all picked themselves up from the ground and fixed their hair. Cartman was on his back in the snow. His nose was bleeding and he had what looked like a busted lip.

"Dude, girls are fucking insane." Clyde loudly whispered to Craig, who just nodded. But I didn't focus on the two of them.

I felt bad. 'Sure Cartman is an asshole, but he's still my friend...' I thought, slipping my hands out of Tokens warm embrace and walking over to him. I peered down at him, almost pitying him. I sighed and held out my hand, trying to help him up.

He looked up at me, contempt and malice in his beady eyes. His short brown hair spread around him in the snowy grass slowly lifted as he shakily stood himself up, ignoring my hand. "Fuck off." He snapped. I let my arm fall to my side as he stumbled towards the boys bathroom, and after a minute, the other boys around me followed him, glancing back at me with a variety of looks.

I was still in my spot, watching him walk slowly to the concrete building sitting at the bottom of the small hill we were on. I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry Y/n, he deserves it." Wendy said into my ear.

"I know ...I know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stan P.O.V.

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I stepped out of the bathroom stall and saw Cartman leaned over on the porcelain sink, muttering curses and glaring hard at his reflection. There were a few familiar faces standing around him, but everyone was standing about five steps away from him. "Jesus dude, what happened?!" I asked, getting closer to him.

"I'm.... I'm fine." He replied. "All of you leave, I just need some time by myself for a minute." He sounded angry, but calm enough to us to know he meant it. The boys all shifted out, the sunlight streaming through the swinging door, then leaving us alone. I began to exit too, feeling suddenly nervous around him.

He spun around and practically lunged at me. He grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and spoke through clenched teeth. "That bitch and her whore friends almost killed me.... and now I need your help." He muttered.

I pushed him away. "Dude what the fuck?! What are you talking about."

He took a deep breath, and he put on his best-little-boy voice. "Stan, remember at your house when you said you'd owe me a favor if they didn't have any sprinkles?"

I groaned. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, I don't remember seeing any sprinkles at the cart..."

He looked into the mirror, staring at me through it. "Of course you didn't, we got Popsicles." I said. "What are you planning Cartman? And who beat you up?"

"That's not important right now Stan." He said, now as calm as ever "I'm just asking you to do something very simple, and then I'll leave you alone."

"What?"

He patted my shoulder. "I just need you to set up a game, like truth or dare, with everybody in the grade playing. I'll handle it from there." I started to object, but he leaned in and began cleaning his nails. "You'll get off Scot free, and maybe I'll even throw in some sort of reward for your work..."

"I could set you up with a girl, if that's what you want." He offered, letting me go and beginning to pace around the bathroom. I rolled my eyes.

"How could you set me up with any girl Cartman?" I asked. "Didn't you just say some girls beat you up?"

He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't matter. I have my ways. Come one Stan, you can have your pick of the cheerleaders!"

"Cartman I don't want-!"

"You could have any of their friends too, Y/n, Abigail, Millie, Lola, any of them could be yours!"

My heart sank at her name. I stared over my shoulder at him, and he sighed. "I'm sure I can get them all together to play spin the bottle or something. I don't know why you would want to, but I can make it happen."

"Fat-ass don't be stupid, I don't want any of them...!" My voice cracked the slightest bit at the end.

That seemed to get him angry. "SHUT THE FUCK UP STAN I'LL TURN YOUR PARENTS INTO CHILI." He screamed. I backed up into a cold sink. "Calm-" I started. He was really tense over my insult.

"Whatever," He huffed, returning to his mirror and glaring into it again. "I can get someone else to do it, Kenny or Craig or maybe even Kyle..." He mused.

I almost gagged. 'Does that mean they get to play spin the bottle?' He turned from his mirror to me, his eyes shining. 'Does he know...?' I thought, sickened and afraid by the idea.

"...Fine. I'll do it. But I'm only setting up the game, right?" I eventually responded, looking down at my shoes to avoid his smug face.

"Of course Stan, why would I ever go back on a promise?" He said, I could hear his smile in his voice.

And with that he walked out, leaving me alone in the bathroom. I felt my stomach twist into a terrible knot, I couldn't bear it.

What had I just agreed to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhh here's tweek. baby babby
> 
> Sorry for so much Kenny lately. He's just really, really easy to write. Everyone else is all "Oh I can't be that forward with y/n, what will she think of me?" Or they're all tsundere and don't even realize yet she's meant for them. But Kenny is just like "Oh she's hot, time to flirt like I've never flirted before!"


	21. Strangers (mini chapter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another place, same old stories.

On a noisy street downtown a young man was standing, slightly hunched over his phone, tapping frantically. His friend sat on the concrete apartment stairs behind him, waiting and watching over his shoulder. Suddenly the boy stood up shoved his phone into his pocket. Without a word or a glance back he took off.

"Dude, where are you going?" The boy asked, quickly hurrying down the busy streets he called home. 

His friend did not stop, instead he glanced back and didn't respond. His blonde fluffy hair was flat against his head from how quick he was walking against the wind. 

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, passerbys eyeing him annoyedly. The boy chasing after him stopped beside him and snapped his fingers, trying to catch his attention.

"Bro, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

He suddenly broke into a sprint, seemingly driven to get somewhere, and fast. 

"DUDE?" He shouted after him, weaving between the people lining the sidewalk. He stumbled slightly on the outstretched legs of a homeless woman, who raised her styrofoam cup to him and shook the coins inside, obviously annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I can't right now." He said, realizing he had lost sight of his friend. He cursed and slowed his pace to a walk, scanning every street around him for the familiar face.

As he walked it clicked in his head that he was near a subway station. Without thinking he knew that his friend had descended under, and broke back into a run before he lost him completely.

He stepped down as fast as he could, skipping the last three steps. He spotted his friend near the other wall grabbing a fistful of his own hair and desperately looking over the metro-map, confused and frantic.

He rushed over and stepped beside him, finally getting to catch his breath. "Bro, why'd you run off?!" 

He didn't look over, and just pointed at a red line along the map. "So, will this one take me out?"

"That's graffiti." 

His eyes widened. "Oh. Well, which one will get me out of New York?"

He searched the map for a moment before landing his finger on a long fitted line. "That one will get you the closest out of the city. Where are you even going?!" He asked, realizing he was still confused.

"I have to go see..." He muttered. For the first time he made eye contact with him, and tilted his head. "No, I mean which one will take me out of the state?"

" ...Dude. You... There isn't one." He sighed. "I'll ask again, where are you even going?"

He looked upset all of a sudden. "What do you mean? I thought New York has the best metro system in the world!"

He shook his head. "No, that's Japan. Ours is pretty decent though."

He slumped against the wall. "You Americans confuse me... What can I do now?!"

"Well maybe if you told me where you are going -"

Suddenly he gasped loudly and grabbed him by the collar. "Bus!"

The boy shrunk slightly at how loud the other was. "Bus..?"

"Yes, I'll take bus after bus as far as they go. Eventually I will end up where I want, right?"

"Yeah, that's how busses work. But seriously, dude, what's going on? One minute we're talking about Y/n-"

The young man inhaled a smiled calmly. "Yes, I'm very sorry for confusing you. Let's go get some food. I'll pay."

The other shrugged underneath his baseball cap. "Alright, I just wanted to make sure you're okay, bro."

The two walked together, as if nothing had happened, up back onto the loud sidewalk.

"So, how much does a bus usually cost?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH I CAN'T WAIT TO REVEAL THIS BOYYYY y'all will never guess who he is.


	22. Truth or Dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fun little game of Truth or Dare. What else would it be?

I panted, trying to steady my nerves and focus on my grip and not on his eyes. I could feel Micheals cold stare, and I knew that if I looked up I would lose all the strength I had gathered. 

"Go on Y/n!!" Heidi screamed from behind my side of the table, waving money in the air as everyone else cheered in agreement. I smiled to myself, but felt my arm growing weaker. 

"Give up..." I heard Firkle hiss next to me. The people gathered on the other side of the table must have sent him to trash talk me. "You're weak, and Micheal is strong. I can see your wrist shaking..." He whispered directly into my ear. I tried my hardest to ignore him.

God, arm wrestling is intense. 

She must have sensed I wasn't doing great, because a second later Wendy whispered in my other ear. "Y/n, don't think about how you're doing. Imagine yourself doing something else, like....." She thought a moment. "Like... Theater!" 

"Yeah Y/n, try singing or something, I've got thirty bucks riding on this." I heard Red say. I didn't respond, but she must have read my mind. "And no one cares what you sound like, as long as you win."

I nodded and took a deep breath, preparing myself. I had no idea what to sing, but since my wrist felt like it was going to pop off I didn't want to mull on it. I settled on just some random tune. 

I hummed it quietly to myself, just feeling the rumbles in my throat and the dullness of my un-used voice. Then as I was feeling more warmed up I got louder, occasionally parting my lips to let my voice slip through bigger sounds. 

After a few moments I was practically opera singing, quietly still but definitely more noticeable to everyone around me. To my joy I felt Michaels grip weaken. I got louder and louder, and I realized my odd tune was gradually getting more and more higher pitched. 

I focused completely on my voice, letting it weave in between every thing around me, and hide any sound smaller, like a satin scarf.

I was reaching high notes I would normally crack on, but continued to climb them. All at once I reached the final portion, my eyes clenched shut. On the final note I trilled it, making it fancier. I was proud of myself when it ended, and opened my eyes.

I had won.

I blinked a few times, staring at my hand on top of his, mine pining his arm down. I looked up a Micheal, finally meeting his gaze with my surprised one. He looked at me through his black curls and at that moment I couldn't help but think his eyebags really suited him.

"Damn." He said after a moment.

"HOLY FUCK DID SHE JUST DO THAT?" Henrietta shouted disbelieving, slamming her hands into the picnic table. I laughed, finally feeling the delayed joy of winning.

"...I just did that." 

"Hell fucking yeah she fucking did!" Heidi yelled back, stepping up besides me. "And I think you know what that means gothette!" 

Henrietta huffed and reached for her purse. It was all black, of course. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill and held up between her fingers, the way she would hold a cigarette. Heidi snatched it and shoved it in her pocket, smiling smugly.

The other girls all walked up to everyone behind the table they made bets with, and the process repeated. Poor Firkle must have been sure I would lose, he was staring daggers at me and fishing out bill after bill for the small hoard of people around him.

I looked back at Micheal who was still sitting on the other side of the table, watching the coins fly with me. I laughed quietly and caught his attention. "Nice. I'm glad the girls made the right choice in picking me. " I said, cockliy waving at Firkle who in return gave me the stink eye.

"Did you think they didn't?" He responded.

I shrugged. "I dunno. I figured against you i'd lose."

I saw the faintest signs of a smile on the corners of his mouth, but the rest of it remained unchanged and mean. "Apparenly, so did they. "

I giggled and we sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, quietly watching the girls get their money and loudly brag about my victory to anyone who asked. Or didn't, for that matter.

From the other side of the park I heard a distant shout of my name. I turned my head to its direction and caught sight of the familiar messy brown hair. 

I grinned and moved from my spot on the tables bench to the actual table part, feeling it was best to sit higher up. I set my hands down besides me. 

"Hey Clyde, what's going on?" 

He was panting from sprinting over to where I was, but made the effort to talk between his gasps. "Do you....egh, want to play truth or dare? " He asked excitedly.

"Uh..." I noised, surprised by his question.

"Truth or dare?" Wendy voiced from besides the table, standing besides the other girls with their fists of money. Clyde glanced to her and smirked. 

"Yeah," He responded, in my best guess trying to sound suave. "Tons of people are playing on the bathroom."

I nodded, but after a second realized I was still confused. "On the bathroom?" I asked, trying to be as polite as I could. "You mean in the bathroom?" 

He laughed crudely, and I was even more confused. Before I could do anything Clyde glanced up at me and stopped dead in his tracks. I noticed that I was sort of cast in a faint shadow, and turned around to see Micheal standing at his full height, looking down at Clyde with the same dead eyed stare.

Micheal didn't say anything to me, and acted like he was walking over to the other goths. Clyde, obviously mildly embarrassed at not answering my question, cleared his throat.

"Uh anyway, ...Yeah sometimes kids like to meet up on top of the park bathrooms and hang out. And lots of people are there right now getting ready to play truth or dare! "

"Oh! That sounds... Really cool actually!" 

"Yeah!" The girls all said in unison.They all flocked around me and started to talk over each other each other, mobbing me and leading me towards the bathrooms. 

I joined the varied conversations they were all having with each other, trying to keep up with each train of thought. 

I gasped suddenly and broke myself away from the group, stumbling over to the goths.

"Do you guys wanna play too?" I asked happily, cocking my thumb towards the quizzical girl group. They shrugged and continued their conversations, standing in a big huddle while they waited for me.

Pete rolled his eyes. "Why would we want to play?" 

I shrugged. "It's fun! Besides," I laughed. "Don't you guys want to dare the posers to do stupid shit?" 

They all thought a moment, before Henrietta sighed. "Yes..." She groaned. "But those stupid posers would do the same shit to us. It's not worth it, I'd rather barf my own brains out than take orders from those Snapchat using assholes."

I sighed, but nodded. "Okay then, but if you guys change your mind you can always sit by me!" I smiled and waved to them, running back to the girls.

"See yah." She muttered.

I looked back and giggled, then blew her a kiss. Bebe smacked my shoulder to get my attention and we rejoined the group's chatter.

We left the area, just in time for me to not see Firkle pointing and cackling at Henriettas face, which had gone several shades redder. 

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Time skip

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We arrived in top of the bathrooms.

"Huh." I said, glancing around. 

Wendy looked over at me. "What?"

"I don't know what I was expecting, but this is way better." 

The rooftop of the conjoined bathrooms, which we had only gotten to by climbing one conveniently placed tree, was covered in a thin layer of icy water. People obviously hung out here a lot, because there were several mattresses strewn about, with people opting to sit on them instead of the damp floor.

There were a few people around us with the big mops from the bathrooms, pushing the water to the side, making it more manageable. Everyone else was just sitting around, on the mattresses or floor, the few who apparently had no fear were sitting on the edge, these brave ones included Craig and Jimmy, talking like old pals.

"How did he...?" I trailed off, hoping Wendy would understand my confusion.

She followed my gaze to Jimmy on his crutches. "Oh yeah, we have a system for crippled kids. Or just anyone who can't climb the tree." 

"That's so cool..." 

She shrugged. "Well we couldn't just let them stay down there."

I nodded, feeling my faith in humanity restore itself. I continued looking around as Wendy and the other girls sat down on an empty couch. I spotted Cartman sitting by himself, quietly scrolling through his phone. 'Geez, he looks glum.' I thought. 'But at least he doesn't seem angry. I'll talk to him once the game is over.'

Almost on cue a few people plopped themselves down in the middle of the rooftop, and that seemed to signal everyone else to start forming a circle. 

I sat down on a random cushion near me that was only slightly wet. I moved my coat lower so the icy water wouldn't soak through my pants.

"Okay, okay, let's do this!" Token roared, sitting down way across from me.

Everyone was nervously talking amongst themselves. I watched as everyone found friends to sit around, people always felt more confidant around people they know. And that held true with me.

"TWEEK! TWEEK!" I yelled as I saw the twitchy blonde trip on the edge of the roof from the convenient branches. Even from the other side of the roof I could see he was more jittery than normal, I could physically see him vibrating across the floor. His eyes widened and he almost fell back and spilled his coffee onto the next kid coming up.

He power-walked over to me, nervously glancing up at the grey sky and the distant snowy ground. "Whoops, sorry Tweek, I just got excited." I said to him as he sat down next to him. He shook his head, excessively.

"N-no! I-it's my fa-fault!" He screeched, crossing and uncrossing his legs in front of him. He looked down at the roof. "W-wow, this is really w-wet!"

I put my hand on his shoulder and he jerked towards me. His eyes were locked on his legs for a second as he found my hand and held it down. He leaned his head over on our hands and I felt the added pressure, his cheek was cold.

I scooched closer, and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "Is it your first time up here too?"

He shook his head again, his swaying yellow hair brushing our fingers. "No, I... I c-come up here all the t-time with the g-guys!" He yelped into my ear. "I-I j-just don't l-like being this h-high up!"

I made a soft noise that vaguely sounded like understanding. "Fear of heights, dude?"

He pressed his face harder into my hand. "N-no... fe-fear of falling t-to my untimely death!"

I leaned back so I could get a better look over the edge, though Tweek clung hard to me when I did, even though we were about ten feet away from the possibility of slipping off. "Eh, if you fell that far you wouldn't die, the worst that would happen is your ankles would maybe be twisted." I shrugged.

This didn't seem to make him feel any better, because what sounded like a squeaking dog toy popping in his mouth came from inside his clenched teeth at my words.

I patted him on the back, and turned my attention to the force I felt sitting down next to me. I beamed.

"Stan! How you doing, dude?" I asked happily. He was looking down at his knees he had tucked to his chest, and his face was clouded over. He didn't respond. I sat quietly for a second, awkwardly waiting for him to say something. I was suddenly aware of the cold seeping through my sneakers. I glanced at Tweek, still on my hand, who gave me nothing but a puzzled tick.

"...Uh.... Stan? Are you okay?" I asked, less happily. He seemed to snap from whatever was pushing him out of reality, and looked over at me with an expression that made me want to look away.

He gasped so loudly and shot up onto his feet so quickly I threw my free arm behind me and hit Tweeks knee out of instinct. "Stan..?"

"Oh, I'm, uh, I'm sorry." He slowly backed away from me after quickly scanning the circle of people before us.

"Are you good?" I asked him, looking up at him. I must have looked terribly sad, I could feel my eyebrows scrunched together in worry. He exhaled sharply, staring down at me like I was a dog he had accidentally kicked.

"Yeah! I'm fine, don't worry about me." He said quickly, glancing away from me every other second. "I just... forgot I agreed to sit with.." He said, dragging the 'with' for a solid second. "..Kyle!" He spun around on his heel. "And he's sitting over there, so, I'll see you!" He said, walking quicker than he normally did away from me to the familiar green figure. Kyle looked quizzically at him as he collapsed by his side.

"...That was..." I began.

"Weird as shit?" Pete finished for me, standing next to me with his hands in his pockets and hair in his face. I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"You said it." I glanced around the circle and saw the other three sitting in a clump on the opposite side of the circle. "You guys decided to join in?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We though it could be... fun."

I laughed. "Well I'm glad. Are you guys gonna sit by us?"

He shook his head. "There are too many phonies over there for me, so I'm sitting here with you... and him I guess." He said, grimacing at Tweek, who still had his head cuddled into our hands and was eyeing Pete nervously.

I patted the ground next to me and he sat down. Wendy stood up and walked into the middle of the circle. "Alright everybody lets get this started!" She shouted, setting herself up as the ringleader of the game. "First a couple of ground rules! No dares that are violent or traumatizing. Duh." People laughed and eyed Cartman, who didn't respond. "And just to make things interesting..." She said, grinning evilly. "You can back out of a dare, but only once and you have to do a second dare, and if we find out you lie during a truth, you have to do a dare."

Everyone nodded and agreed. That sounded fair enough. "Who want's to go first?" She asked the group.

It was so quiet we could hear the cars rolling down the street below us. Everyone looked around at each other, wondering which brave soul would start us off. Finally a small boy that looked around Firkles age timidly rose his hand. "Uh... That girl... Truth or Dare?" He said, pointing at me.

I giggled. "Yay I'm first! And I'll go with truth."

He scratched his wist and looked down, trying to think. "Okay, um.. Have you ever broken up with somebody? And, um, how?" He asked, looking happy to get his sentence over with.

I leaned back, everybody looking at me. "Well... No. I've dated a few people, but I've never broken up with anybody before."

I tapped my finger to my chin, staring up at the grey sky. "But there was this one guy..."

"Who?" Craig asked, still sitting on the roofs edge.

"Well... he was at my school in New York for awhile, he was an exchange student. So he was there for a few weeks before he went to a different school in the city. I thought he was cool, but he had a crush on me. I told him I didn't feel the same way and I thought he took it well, but then I found out he was telling everyone in his new school that we were dating."

"W-what hap-happened?" Jimmy asked.

I shrugged. "Not much. He was a jerk and refused to tell anyone he lied, but he left after that and went to England or something. He visited me during winter break and said he was sorry, but he still had a thing for me." I exhaled. "I haven't heard about him since I moved here."

"That's pretty anti-climatic." Kyle said. 

I scratched the back of my neck and chuckled. "Yeah I know, it was way more dramatic in person. I'm just glad I don't have to talk to the guy anymore."

I gasped and clapped my hands together excitedly. "Ooh! It's my turn now!" I looked around the circle in thought. "Who should be my prey...?" My eyes landed on team Stan, including Cartman, and I covered my eyes with my hand and with my other (which I pulled from under Tweek) I pointed at them. "Eeny meeny miney..." I uncovered my eyes and grinned as I saw what my finger landed on. "Mo." I said, pointing at a slightly-terrified looking Kyle.

"Ooooh..." The group noised like a bunch of 2nd graders.

"Truth. Or. Dare." I hissed, enjoying the drama of it all.

He sat a little taller under my gaze. "...Dare."

I grinned, and he shrank back. "Alright. I dare you to shove ice down your shirt and let it melt."

The color drained from his face as everyone laughed. "W-what ice?" He stuttered desperately. As he spoke a ball of slush and snow smacked him upside the head and exploded, "How about that?" Craig shouted at Kyle, now looking extremely pink in the face.

"F-fine... But I'm not doing it myself." He grumbled, standing up.

I stood up as well, and waltzed over to him with the cockiness of someone who was about to pour ice onto someones bare skin. He looked down at my smirking face and backed up ever so slightly. "Uh I change my mind, I can do it myself."

By now the entire rooftop of giggling children was entranced by us, and they erupted into arguments and jeers. I gestured around at them without breaking eye-contact with Kyle and his pink face. "Oh, but I don't think they want you to do it yourself. I think..." I said, bending down and scooping together the remains of Craigs snowball. I leaned in next to his ear. "...they want me to do it for you." I purred.

While Kyle was rambling out nonsense I took the opportunity to grab him by the collar and shove my fistful of ice down the front of his shirt. He shot back onto Stans lap, cursing and clawing at himself. He pulled up his jacket just far enough for me to see his skinny stomach, then Eric got on top of Kyle and yanked his shirt back down. "Nuh-uh dude! She said you had to let it melt." 

I nodded, feeling relieved that at least Cartman was acting like himself. The whole roof was in hysterics as Kyle tried his best to hold still.

I turned and settled myself back down next to Tweek, enjoying Kyle's disgruntled face. "Okay, okay, okay. Kyle, you're next!" Wendy said.

Kyle looked around, obviously trying to distract himself from the snow in his underwear. "Uhhh... I dare you to try doing the Operaettes voice!" He said, wiggling around in his seat.

Everyone looked around. "...Who?" I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

He kept wiggling, not looking at any of us. "I don't care..! All the girls!" He yelped, distracted.

All the girls gathered on the roof glanced at each other, me included. We all got up and gathered in a clump in a corner so no one could hear us.

"How does she sound again?" A little girl asked. Why were there so many small children up here?

Bebe shook her head at nothing. "Her voice is deep and.... god I can't remember. I must have watched that video a hundred times." She sighed.

"She sounded hot, too." Ken said, twirling his weave around his finger. Everyone glanced at him suspiciously.

"...Should he be here?" Heidi asked. "He could be spying on us."

I shrugged. "What's he gonna tell everyone, that none of us know how to do her voice? They're gonna find that out in a second anyway."

Nichole smoothed her hair. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."

We got out of our huddle and sat down in a line. I sat myself near the end, as to not look too suspicious. The only one after me was Wendy. Boy was I nervous. Everyone was quiet, and all eyes were on Bebe, the first in line.

She cleared her throat. "My name is Bebe Stevens, and I am The Operaette." He voice was deep and sultry, but it obviously wasn't the same as my alter-ego.

Team Craig and Stan shared looks of disappointment. "Alright, next!" Eric shouted. Bebe looked both disappointed and relieved, she turned her attention to the next girl in line. Red.

"My name is Red, and I'm the Operaette." She said coolly, not giving two shits about what we were doing and not even changing her voice.

"Next!"

Ken stood up dramatically.

"Sit down Kenny." Clyde said before he could even speak. He sighed sadly and plopped back down.

We went on through the line, each girl giving their best suave voice. They sounded great, but none sounded like her. I couldn't have as much fun as everyone else was having though, because I was trying to come up with an excuse to not take a turn without looking suspicious.

But of course after however many letdown expressions on the heroes faces, it was my turn. For once every eye in the crowd on me was stressing me out. I smiled and stood up. I froze for a moment, my mind racing behind my nonchalant expression.

"G-go on Y-Y/n." Jimmy said.

I laughed. "Sorry, this is so silly. Give me a second." I said. I coughed. "Sorry, I'm not good at deep voices."

"...Y/n. We watched you audition." Stan said. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

"What audition?"

Kyle seemed less bothered by the ice now. "Y/n don't mess around. I have the video on my phone."

I snapped my fingers. "Oh that audition! Well that was different."

"How?" Kenny asked, not even bothering with his princess Kenny voice.

"Because I was playing a fictional character! And since the Operaette isrealIdon'tthinkIcanreallydohervoiceyouknow?Ijustwouldn'tfeelrightaboutitinfacti'msurprisedanyofthegirlswereableto-" My rambling were cut off by something burning hot exploding all over me. I jumped up in surprise and pain. I looked down and saw that I was drenched in a sticky brown liquid.

"Ahh! H-hot!" I stuttered, jumping around trying to cool myself off. I saw Tweeks empty coffee cup rolling on the floor near me, and I put two and two together.

"W-who threw Coffee at me?" I asked, tears pricking the corners of my eyes.

Everyone was talking at once, and I couldn't understand anything.

I felt an arm roughly grab me by the shoulder and drag me away from the voices. I tried to ignore my burning clothing and tried to look behind me, but a hand grabbed my jaw and forced me to look forward. "Don't look back." He ordered.

Craig. I didn't say anything and I didn't fight. All I could think of was how terrible my legs felt, with the hot liquid seeping through my pants I was sure I was going to burn.

He let go of me when we got to the edge of the roof so I could climb down. Moving my legs made it better for a second, but then worse again. When I got all the way down I looked up to see if Craig would follow, and he just jumped. He landed on a dumpster and jumped down from there.

"Why did you..?" I began, but he grabbed me again and shoved me into a bathroom. I wasn't able to see if it was the boys or girls, but I rushed into a stall in a hurry.

"Get changed." He said.

I stripped off my pants, leaving my shirt on since it didn't seem too badly soaked. I hung them up on the little hook on the stall door, but than realized something as I stood around in my underwear.

"Um.. Craig?"

"What?"

"I don't have anything to change into."

I peeked out of a crack in the stall door at him, and saw it hit him. He had an expression I had never seen on him before, I couldn't help by laugh a little to myself.

The face disappeared as he thought. I looked away, not wanting to be weird. 

"Oh. Right."

I sat down on the toilet lid, my legs were covered in goosebumps. I waited for him to say something, but instead I had barely any time to react as Craig crawled under the door.

I desperately tried to cover myself. "Hey what are you doing?!"

He covered his eyes with his hand. "Relax I'm not looking." He said, standing up inside.

"What are you-?"

"What do you need, pants?" He asked, lifting his hand.

"DON'T PEEK."

He placed his hand back. "Right, sorry." He fumbled with the zipper to his jeans.

I looked away out of respect. "What are you doing?"

I heard the zipper finally come undone and the shuffling of fabric. "You need pants." He said simply. "Here."

I looked his way to catch them. He still had his hand over his eyes. He was wearing only a pair of boxers, but they could pass as shorts. I stood up to put them on and looked away. "You better get out of here. Two teenagers in a bathroom stall in only their underwear isn't a good look."

I could practically feel him rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go up."

"Thank you!" I called after him as he opened the door from inside and left the bathroom. I re-locked it and smiled to myself. I pulled his pants up and buttoned them. They were too big, when I walked they fell down slightly and I had to roll the legs up three times before I could walk.

I walked out and as quickly as I could scaled the tree, only slipping once because one pant leg came un-rolled.

"O-oh god! Uh... T-truth?!"

"Would you rather have sex with everybody on team Craig, or team Stan?"

"What the FUCK." I said, hoisting myself over the edge. Tweek was still sitting in the same place as before, but now Clyde was standing in front of him. Tweek looked panicky and confused, but he seemed glad that I was here.

Clyde turned on his heel to face me. He put his hand on his hips and grinned civilly at me. "You left so we had to start another truth or dare."

I laughed. "Alright fair enough." You looked around him to Tweek. "So what's your answer tough guy guy?"

He gritted his teeth and ran his fingers through his hair. "GAH! I don't, I-I don't know!" He hid his face behind his hands. "S-someone else g-go!"

I sat down next to the girls where I was before. Wendy turned to me fretfully. "Oh Y/n are you okay? No one has any idea where that coffee came from." She said it apologetically, but I couldn't help but notice her eyes linger on Tweek as they scrolled the crowd before us.

I frowned. "It's not him."

"You're quick." She said, tilting her head, letting her silky black hair fall into a curtain behind her ear. "Tweek's the only one here with coffee though."

I shook my head. "C'mon Wendy, you really think he did it?" I gestured over at him, still curled into a ball. If anxiety was a person it would probably look like him. "Just look at the poor guy."

She sighed. "I guess. But you'd be surprised what Tweek is capable of." She paused, and then much quieter, muttered, "...what they're all capable of..."

"How do you mean?"

"Ah, nothing. Don't worry about it." She smiled. I smiled back, but my stomach twisted. Something about what she said didn't sit right. But I didn't have time to think about it, everyone was focused on Firkle. Apparently Clyde had chosen the smallest goth to antagonize.

"Well...~?" He asked over everyones giggles.

"I would rather stab my own eyes out while raving about unicorns." He seethed.

Clyde crouched down. I swore to myself I would never do that again, because from an outsiders perspective it was very condescending. But I still couldn't help but get a kick out of Firkles furious face and Clydes smug one. "Come on little guy, just say a team name and we'll leave you alone."

"I hate all of you equally. I can barely stand to look at you conformists, let alone do any of that!"

I stood up. "Leave him alone Clyde." I laughed. "The kid's like, six, keep asking him weird questions and the Fbi will be storming your house."

"I'm twelve dumbass."

I waved my hand. "Yeah, that age. Give the dare to someone else Firkle, then we can get back to the normal game."

Clyde shrugged and sat back down, still chipper. Firkle seemed surprised, and dare I say happy, but he just barely hid it under his normal bored expression.

"You." He said, pointing at me.

"I just went!"

"I don't care."

I rolled my eyes. "Both teams at once, now can we get back to the game?"

Everyone snickered, almost overwhelming the goths unimpressed sighs. Team Stan was a flustered mess, mostly due to Kyle, every part of him seemed to be reddening, Kenny was cackling at Stan and Cartman who both looked like they wanted to disappear into their hats. Though Eric looked more angry than anything.

Team Craig was about the same, though Craig was focused on his legs and Token was chuckling along with everyone else, unsure of how to react. If his dark skin could blush, it would. Tweek reacted about as well as you would expect, but it certainly didn't help that Clyde was shaking him around by the collar excitedly.

"Alright everybody calm down." Wendy said, just barely hiding her giggles. "Okay, who's next to do the voice?" She said, looking down the line.

"Oh I forgot we were doing that." Clyde said, letting a dizzy Tweek fall back.

"Y-yeah. W-we all got s-s-so caught up in the t-t-twists and t-turns!" Timmy said, almost poetically.

I noticed a little kids phone buzz. She looked at it with big eyes, and started to speak. But before she could get any words out a familiar face cried out. "Well geez fellers, I think it was Wendy's turn!"

I glanced in his direction. Butters was smiling innocently. I realized what he was doing, and silently thanked him before nodding. "Yeah, Wendy was last in line I think."

"That sounds about right." Henrietta said, blowing the smoke from her cigarette up at the grey sky.

Wendy eyed Henrietta suspiciously. She sighed and stood up from her spot on the edge. I sat down between Pete and Tweek again.

She paused and took a breath. "My name is Wendy Testaburger, and I am the Operaette."

My breath hitched. Everyone in the cheerfully chattery crowd had become silent. Wendy glanced around at the awestruck stares in confusion. "What?"

No one answered. She lowered and her thin eyebrows crept together. "What?"

"IT'S YOU." Eric roared and shot up. He had gotten to her in less than a second and bared his teeth.

"What are you talking about fat-ass?" She shouted, standing her ground.

"I can't believe I never considered it!" He shouted. "I knew she had it out for us, of course it's you!"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Just what are you implying?"

He squinted. "I'm not implying anything, I'm saying you just outed yourself as the Operaette!"

Butters and I exchanged panicked glances. Wendy gritted her teeth. "I'm not the Operaette dumb-ass."

Eric gestured around and addressed the circle. "You all heard her! I'm not fucking insane, she sounded exactly like her!"

Wendy puffed her cheeks exasperatedly. "I am not her! Check my room, I don't have the costume or the heels or anything! So my voice sounds like her, I bet a ton of other people do!" I cringed guiltily. Eric was about to argue, but he was interrupted.

"Calm down Cartman. She's not her." Stan said.

Cartman whipped around to glower at Stan. "How do you know, Stan? She sounds exactly like-!"

"I know what she sounds like, but she can't be her, because..!" He trailed off, realizing every eye was on him. He chuckled nervously and stood up. He walked over to Cartman and hissed something into his ear. Cartman eyes widened, but he didn't look entirely convinced. He whispered something back.

"Dude, just take my word for it, okay?" 

Cartman scowled but he got it. The entire rooftop was quiet, and in the edge of their seats, unlike my buzzing brain. I wanted to say something, anything that might help smooth things over. At the same time I wanted to ask questions. Why did Stan stand up for Wendy, and even more impressively, how did he convince Eric?

No one dared to speak. I realized that the Operaette pretty much just ruined the game. "So... Who's turn was it?" Token coughed, trying to make conversation.

"..."

"Well this sucks. And that's not a pun, either." 

Everyone looked over, the conveniently placed trees bare branches were now covered in a flock of vamp-kids, each one in a different dramatic pose, and right in the center of it all was Mike, smirking like a fanged play boy.

I was still sitting on the edge of the roof, so I got full view of the action. The trio of goths looked even more irritated than normal, staring daggers at Mike and his group of neon coated pre-teens as they climbed carefully into the roof. Pete seemed even more effected by them without his friends, crossing his arms and huffing loudly. 

Everyone else looked annoyed, but not threatened. Mike got to the point.

"I, personally, think we're all too young for it, but clearly none of you do. I believe you know what I'm talking about, Craig."

Craig looked unhappy he had been brought into this. "What are you-? "

Mike pointed at his own jacket pocket, and Craig copied him. He realized something and put his hand inside. "Oh. I forgot I had that." He said tonelessly.

Mike smiled proudly.

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Very small Time skip

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Well, that worked much better than expected.

The rooftop of teenagers was a giggling mess. A few of us upperclassmen were walking around making sure no small children "joined in" on the fun, but mostly the highschoolers made sure they never passed anything to them. Everyone was having a good time, including me. Though I was just feeling happier at the no-longer tense atmosphere. Even if the air smelled weird.

"Okay okay! Y/n, you go!" Bebe sang as I sat next to Pete again. This made everyone burst into laughter for some reason. The bubbly attitude of the rooftop made me giggle a little too. 

"I just went!"

"We know!" Nichole cried before laughing so hard she nearly doubled over.

I sighed, but only for the theatrics. "Can't argue with that. Dare."

The crowd whooped at my answer. I laughed.

Bebe grinned and looked around. She jumped up excitedly and clapped her hands, some people joined her, too stoned to care. 

"Y/n!" She roared. "I want you to sit on Butter's lap for three turns!"

"NO!" 

Everyone's head turned. I didn't have to look to see who had shouted, since it was practically in my ear. Tweek had his hands clasped over his mouth. He looked like he was about to cry. 

I could already feel the taunts coming, so I stood up and laughed loudly to get the attention back on me. "I didn't take you as the jealous type Tweekers, but don't worry, I don't even know who Butters is!"

That seemed to do it. Everyone giggled and several people started pointing him out for me. I tried my best to seem unsure. 

"Over here!" Butters shouted, giving me a friendly wave. I began to approach him, trying to pretend I didn't notice how terrified he looked. 

"Wait I know you!" I chirped. "You're in my science class with Jimmy."

He nodded. "Heh, yeah! Golly, it sure is nice to officially meet you." He said, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Same to you!" I plopped onto his lap, and he let out a noise I can't even begin to describe. The entire rooftop laughed and Butters looked like he had swallowed a pepper. 

I playfully adjusted myself, making Butters visibly tense up. Everyone was in stitches, besides some of the boys. For some reason anger seemed to be radiating off of the two teams, even more than the goths, who were just as strong despite being seperated. 

The girls were fine though. "Don't wiggle too much Y/n, Butters might have too much fun!" Red hooted. I giggled, and snuggled up to Butters, enjoying his warmth. I knew Butters wouldn't care, and I was just focused on saving Tweek. 

I waved my hands around. "Alright my turn again! I've been picking a lot on team Stan, so how about... Craig." 

He stood up from the ledge, giving me a look that would intimidate me if I weren't so confident in the embrace of my Friends, literally and metaphorically. 

"Dare." 

"I didn't even ask." I giggled. "But okay then, I dare you, Craig Tucker, to go dress like a girl."

The rooftop was quiet again, but this time in a good way. From what I've heard about Craig from the rest of his team, he's basically a more mellowed out Cartman. He'll punch you, but he'll also allow Clyde to put dandelions in his hair when spring rolls around. (Token showed me the pictures on his phone, I made him promise to keep them forever)

Craig looked miffed. "I don't even have pants, where am I supposed to get a dress?"

Before I could make a snarky comment about princess Kenny, Jimmy stood up excitedly onto his crutches."F-Forgive me f-f-for interrupting, but I believe I have s-something p-perfect!"

He lead Craig to behind a couch on the other side of the roof, Craig squatted down and Jimmy began to hand him things form his backpack. "N-no one l-l-look, t-this is g-gonna be g-great!"

Everyone began to excitedly mumble, and a saw a few girls try and stand up and peer over the couch without looking too suspicious. I leaned into Butters, his breath hitched.

"What do you think they're doing to him?" I whispered.

He shrugged. "Knowing Jimmy, anything's possible. He's a comedian, so his bag's probably full of props and costumes."

We sat in comfortable silence, people watching together. I elbowed him slightly and gestured towards Eric, who was texting someone. 

"What do you think he's doing? He's not usually on his phone this much."

"Geez, I was just wondering that. Maybe he's recording his ideas on who the Operaette is. Heroes do that, right?"

I smiled. "How should we know?" We laughed quietly, as to not raise any attention.

He exhaled a stale breath. "He got really close to figuring it out." He whispered, so soft I could barely hear.

I nodded. "I know. Thank's for covering for me back there."

"I... I'm really sorry Y/n. It was me who threw coffee on you. You were absolutely dying and I had no idea what else to do to help."

I rolled my eyes. "I guess that makes sense. Next time though, maybe don't throw something scalding hot at your pretend wife. Think of the effect if will have on our pretend children."

He wrapped his arms around me. "Never again my darling." He purred, tracing his finger along my jawline. 

I giggled. I traced my finger over his lips. "Do you promise, my love?" I said, breathing heavily. 

Our faces were so close I could see my reflection in his eyes. "Gosh, your a good actor." He said, pulling me even tighter. I smiled happily.

"ALRIGHT HOW ARE WE DOING?" Kenny said loudly before sitting down right next to us. He was staring at us brightly, though there was a dangerous gleam in his eye behind his gorgeous wig. Butters jumped, and moved me so that we were no longer so intertwined so tight.

"H-hiya Kenny!"

"Hey princess, how's it hangin?" I said, sticking out my tongue,

He beamed elegantly(?) at me. "I'm excited for Craig to join me in the wonderful world of princess-hood." 

"I'm sure Craig feels the exact opposite." 

Ken nudged me, probably-not-accidentally hitting Butters too. "Hey at least now there's no chance of you falling in love when you see her, knowing that Craig is underneath." 

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

We both laughed. Butters was sitting stiffly under me, listening carefully but not really comprehending. I twirled my hair around my finger and sighed dreamily. "You never know, if Jimmy finds him a good enough dress I may just fall in love anyway."

I giggled to myself, ignoring Kens tight-lipped nod and Butters tensing up. Jimmy whistled and everyone shushed each other. 

"I-introducing.... Craig the b-b-beautiful!"

Craig stood up from behind the couch. Whatever we were all expecting, this was better.

Somehow the first thing I noticed was that he was still wearing his sneakers. He was wearing a traditional Japanese Kimono, pink with pretty floral patterns and a golden sash around his middle. He had on a dozen or so pearl necklaces that jangled merrily as he stepped. His lips were sloppily painted bright red, and whatever Jimmy had attempted to put on Craigs eyelids would have made any of my coworkers faint.

We cheered. Kenny stuck his fingers between his teeth and whistled. I fake swooned, Butters barely holding me up. "How do you feel Craig?" Token asked, amused. 

Craig looked down at himself, then back up. "Gay." 

The small roof full of children screamed so loud I wondered if I would go deaf. Apparently we were all big fans of gayness. 

Craig sat back down on the ledge, his face was showing an indescribable emotion. Once we had all settled down to a low buzz, Wendy grinned. "It's your turn now Craig."

"Okay. Y/n."

"I JUST-"

"Who cares? You're going again. Truth or dare."

I laughed. "Fine! Truth."

"Who..." He paused, and did something close to hesitating. "If you had to pick someone in Coon and Friends to date, who would it be?"

I silenced a laugh, instead opting to raise an eyebrow. The circle was alive once more with giggling and conversations. 

Craig himself looked like he didn't care at all about the answer, but the boys were all silently watching. How was I supposed to answer this without seeming suspicious?

I stuck out my tongue. "I don't even know most of their names. Probably Human Kite I guess, he's my little brothers favorite."

I avoided looking at Kyle, keeping my gaze directed at Craig. He nodded. "Cool." I snuck a glance at Wendy, who was holding back a laugh. 

'I wonder what would happen if I...?' I thought, deciding on the spot I was going to make things funnier.

I shrugged. "I've always been a bigger fan of the villains, anyway. Like the Operaette and Professor Chaos." 

That caught everyone's attention. The rooftop exploded with screams of laughter. Butters may have stopped breathing. It was amazing.

"Are you sure Y/n?" Token asked, his smile strained. "They're both pretty bad people. You wouldn't really date them?"

I shook my head, deciding that Token looking this stressed was mean. "Oh no, definitely not. Even if Professor Chaos is super, super hot." I crossed my arms. "If I ever saw him in real life I'd punch him in the throat, no hesitation."

Butters's chest was shaking slightly from his silent laugh, I had to pretend not to notice. Tweek looked like he might explode, and surprisingly so did Eric, but in a much different way. Token looked both relieved and like he desperately wanted to tell me something. Which, I realized, he probably did.

Team Stan was a mess. Kenny was smiling brightly besides me, laughing along with everyone else, but was shooting me a worried glance every so often. Kyle and Stan were nervously chuckling, looking to each other for help. Eric was red in the face, and was staring daggers in my direction. 

"Alright, alright." I said, this was probably not as much fun for everyone else. "Let's see... Nichole, truth or dare?" 

She laughed. "Finally. Dare!" All the girls oohed, and the entire rooftop joined in. 

I grinned. "Terrible choice really, I dare you to call whoever you think is the cutest Daddy."

As expected, people laughed and were all talking over each other excitedly. Nichole might have looked the exact opposite from everyone else though, with a combination of hatred and amusement on her face, and a distinct grimace that said she wanted to slap me. 

"I'd rather sit on Cartmans lap." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

I gestured at Eric, who didn't look that happy to be involved. "Alright, I dare you to do that then." More roaring laughter, and Nichole even seemed to be enjoying it. Though if looks could kill I'd still be dead.

"Come on Nichole, it's one or the other!"

She playfully huffed. "If it's so easy why don't you do it?"

I shrugged. "Okay." I pushed Butters's face away from me and cupped my mouth with my hand. "HEY KYLE YOU'RE DADDY."

Kyle pulled his had down over his eyes, the rest of his face going pink "Jesus christ Y/n..." He mumbled under the shrieks of laughter. 

Token laughed along with everyone else and then sighed. "Since Nichole didn't really do the dare, I guess it's Y/n turn again. Y/n, truth or dare?" He said, pulling out his phone. "Hang on I have an app for this..."

"Dare." I smiled. I untangled my arms from Butters's "It's been three turns, hasn't it?" I asked no one in particular. It would look a little suspicious if I stayed, so I gave a small wave to Butters and returned back in between Pete and Tweek. Pete now had a lit cigarette in his mouth and was blowing smoke up at the sky.

Token finally found whatever he was looking for on his phone. "Okay, dare..." He cleared his throat. "I dare you to put on a leash and collar for two turns." He read aloud. He squinted. "This app's weird..."

I laughed. "You said it. Thank god we don't have a leash and a collar."

Pete sucked in air through his teeth besides me. I looked over at him, already terrified. Pete silently pulled open his bag and produced two items, both leather. 

I gestured at his bag on disbelief and awe. "Why??? Do you have those in your bag?"

"Don't ask." 

He undid the strap on the collar and approached me with a blank expression. His hair over his one eye really accentuated how dead inside he looked. 

I playfully pushed him back. "Hey stop!" I giggled. He continued on, his eyes dancing with laughter. "I don't consent! Ahh!" I shrieked again. "Ahh! Help!"

All at once things happened. I hadn't noticed it before, but the entire rooftop was on the edge of their metaphorical seats watching us. I heard people gasp, and I looked over just in time to see Clyde's Letterman jacket swish and hear the impact of his fist.

Pete flew back about two feet. He groaned and clutched his face. I hurried next to him without a second glance, on my knees I grabbed his shoulder to steady him and tried to examine his nose from behind his hand. "Are you alright? Is it broken?"

He finally let go and allowed me to get a better look, I was acutely aware that everyone was watching us. I ran my finger gently along the bridge of his nose, then breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems normal, thank god." 

I looked back at Clyde. He was standing back, mouth agape. I gestured at Pete. "Dude, what the actual fuck?" 

Clyde shut his mouth. "I- I, I thought...! He..!"

"Fucking conformists..." Pete hissed, still pressing his nose in pain. I rubbed his shoulder with the back of my hand.

"Clyde, you owe him big time. Tomorrow at school you have to do whatever he says." I looked over at Pete. "Is that cool?" He nodded, still focused on his face.

I clapped my hands together. "Great, moving forward, I would appreciate it if no one punched my friends." 

It was stilted, but a few people laughed, and I saw from the corner of my eye that Pete smiled. Though he hid it well.

Token spoke next. "Well that went terrible. I guess just do a second dare... Uh.." He said. "I don't want to use this app anymore." 

He huffed and put his phone away. "Whatever, uh... Who is the cutest girl here according to you? I know that's more of a truth, but I'm kind or grasping at straws here."

I giggled. "Well normally I would say Princess Kenny, but now I think my heart truly belongs to Craig the beautiful!" 

"I regret giving you my pants." Said Craig, with as much emotion as ever.

Token sighed and grinned. "Well then, who is the cutest guy here?" He asked me. 

I yawned. "You're all pretty cute, but just going on fashion sense alone I'd say... Mike. Er, Vampir, sorry."

"No fucking way! Him?" Henrietta shouted, pointing at the fanged wonder who had returned to sitting in the conveniently-placed tree with a few of his vamp-kids. The rest had gone home, apparently it was past their bedtime.

I shrugged. "Hes got the best coat."

"I'm honored." Mike said, flashing his plastic teeth. "

I laughed. "Finally it's someone elses turn. Let's see..." I looked around, I really had no idea what to ask anyone, so I just picked the first person I saw.

"Eric! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

I drummed my fingers. "Um... Ooh okay, do you have a crush on anyone?"

"No."

"Dude that's a total lie." Stan said, elbowing Eric. Eric didn't look impressed.

"No it isn't Stan! I've never had a crush in my life." He shook his head adamantly. "Never have, never will."

"Didn't you and Heidi used to date?" I questioned.

I looked over to Heidi, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Unfortunately, yeah."

Cartman still shook his head. "Never have, never will." He repeated.

"Well," Token said. "I guess we can't really disprove it."

"Aw, that sucks." Wendy said, fake pouting. Most of the roof nodded in agreement.

"What, do you guys want me to do a dare?" He questioned, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Yeah, we could get to draw on you with sharpie or something." Bebe said dreamily.

"Fuck you guys."

We all giggled at Erics misfortune. I noticed one particular child because she had bright orange hair that was put into two pigtails. They bounced with every little movement.

The little girls phone buzzed, she looked over it curiously. 

"Okay my turn." Eric said. He looked to the girl, probably for the same reason as me. "I dare that random girl to ask someone five questions."

"That's a weird dare Cartman." Kenny said, twirling his hair. 

Eric crossed his arms in front of him. "This game sucks anyway."

"T-that's Craig's s-sister Tricia!" Tweek whispered to me suddenly. The little girl flipped off Craig for no reason.

"I can see the resemblance."

"I pick that girl!" She said, pointing at me.

I sighed. "Somehow I'm not surprised." I smiled at the girl. "Go ahead kid." 

She smiled and picked up her phone.   
"Why did you move her?"

"Oh." I said. I wasn't expecting that. But it was just a little kid asking an innocent question, she didn't know. Stan must have been able to see my hesitation.

"Y/n, You don't have to answer if you don't want to." 

I blew a raspberry. "Please, it's not a big deal. Besides, I don't want to do a dare, if she's anything like her brother I need to stay safe!" I laughed. 

Craig rolled his eyes, Tricia looked offended. Only team Stan looked worried, especially Ken. I ignored them, I just wanted to have fun. I grinned at Tricia happily.

"Well, as you know, I moved here from New York city. We kind of moved here in a hurry because... well my mom and dad got into an argument, and South Park was the easiest place to come in a hurry."

"Do you miss New York?"

I gripped my coat. "Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I really do."

"Why?" She tilted her head, letting her pigtails fall to the side.

I cleared my throat. "There's a lot of things I miss. Like my old school, all my friends that went there, all my teachers that helped me out when no one else could. I miss the tall buildings and the tourists who asked me to take pictures of them, and every couple of weeks a new student would be in my class."

"Wow, you really love New York that much?" She asked, setting down her phone.

"Of course. It raised me, every single person in New York shaped me as I grew up." I smiled, and realized that my eyes were watering. I tried my best not to blink. "Heh, every time you would try to sleep there was always noise, my mom hated it. But I loved it. You were never alone in New York, even if no one ever talked to you."

She was staring, wide eyed at me. I gave her a smile, but the slightest movement in my face knocked my tears free, flooding down my cheeks. I sniffed. Everyone was looking at me.

"Last question. Why did your father hate you?"

"Tricia what the fuck." Craig said.

I was taken aback. "Uh... I don't think my father necessarily hates me... I think he did some bad things and got involved with the wrong people, and his love of everything got warped in the process." I tried to explain, but my voice was shaking against my will.

"You'd think his love of his family would save him." Eric said, leaning on his palm. 

I couldn't look up anymore. I shook my head. "We tried. Everyday I would smile at him and hope he was gonna snap out of it. But..." I sniffled. "He didn't want anything to do with me, or anybody else. He wouldn't work sometimes, he would just leave and we couldn't do anything but call until he came back. But he loved us." I put my head in between my knees. "And I love him... so much."

My entire body was jelly. I felt like I may just dissapear. I tried to keep my sadness inside, but it just escaped anyway in my uneven breaths. The whole world stopped spinning. 

"...I miss my daddy..."

Little footsteps rushed up to me and I felt two small hands grab my arm and shake me. I looked up at Tricia, who looked panic-stricken and apologetic. Either she was catching a cold, or she had started crying at some point too.

My instincts kicked in, I wiped my tears and straightened. "I'm fine, don't wor-"

Tricia hugged me around my middle tightly. I could tell she got snot all over my coat. "I'm sorry." She sniffed. "I didn't want to make you cry..." 

"Tricia why would ask such a stupid question?" Craig asked as I tried to comfort her. She wiped her eyes and pointed across the rooftop. We all collectively followed her gaze.

Right to Eric.

The girl in my lap continued. "He gave me twenty dollars and told me to do the truth if I got called on. I didn't know it was bad, honest!"

I stroked her hair. "It's okay, we believe you." I glanced at Craig. "Go to your brother, he'll handle this better." She looked over at him and shook her head.

"No I'm not done, I know a bunch of other kids got money too. Like him!" She pointed at the small child sitting by himself, timidly watching. It was the kid who had began the game, the one who asked if I had dumped anyone. 

I gently took Tricia off of me and walked over to him, pressing my hand on his shoulder. "Is this true, did Cartman ask you to do that?"

He looked down at the floor and nodded. 

I patted him on the back then straightened, turning to address the completely quiet circle. "Who else?"

Normally, I would be happy to be in front of a crowd, attention all on me. For obvious reasons, I shouldn't have been happy in this particular moment, having just poured my heart into a town of students who pitied me at best. Though despite everything, I felt nothing. In that bubble of time, I truly understood what the calm before the storm really meant.

Small hand after hand rose into the air. Everyone below the age of ten that was up here with us had been paid to do so. I turned my head to face Eric. He looked cornered. Team Stan had mixed feelings as they looked upon their meanest member, but they definitely looked like they wanted to get away from him, which made me glad.

"Eric..." I said. My voice had gone chilly.

"Those stupid kids are lying, I never did anything!" He shouted, standing up.

"Dude, you're lying." Kyle said up at him. "We should have known you would pull something like this, right Stan?"

Stan was staring at the floor. He buried his face in his arms and squeezed himself tight into a ball. Kyle put a hand on his shoulder. "Dude..?"

"Okay, so I paid a couple kids to ask you embarrassing stuff. So what? Most of them didn't even get a chance to ask you!" He said defensively.

"Why?" I breathed. I could feel the wind blowing lightly against my face, it was cold.

He crossed his arms and looked around desperately. "Y-you and your skank friends assaulted me! I had to get back at you."

I crossed my arms back at him. My face hurt. "We only 'assaulted' you because you were being a bully. But maybe we were wrong to do it. You're always a bully."

"Fuck you! It wasn't even that bad you whiny bitch, I just wanted you to be embarrassed a little... It's your own damn fault you cried."

I gaped at him, I felt Micheal gripped my shoulder tightly. "Do you want us to handle it?" He mumbled. I felt angry tears prick my still-wet eyes. I yanked my shoulder away from Micheal, never taking my eyes off of Cartman. 

"It's my fault?" I said, trying to keep my voice still. "It's my fault my father left? It's my fault our family is ruined? It's my fault I have to take up a job that demeans me?" There were dry tears falling down my face again. "It's my fault I have to search empty warehouses for things to sell, because he left us so bankrupt that's the only way I could keep feeding my family?" 

My knees were weak, I wiped my eyes and looked to the clear afternoon sky. "It's my fault I had to leave my home?" I whispered. 

No one spoke. I bit my own cheek to stop from sobbing again. 

"...I'm sorry." 

I looked up. Cartman was staring fiercely at me, his hands clenched into fists. 

I walked to the other side of the roof, and placed one of my feet onto a branch, the other still on the rooftop. Mike offered me his hand from his spot slightly below, and I took it. I turned back a tiny bit and saw my friends worried faces. But then I saw the little kids, confused and guilty. I gripped his hand harder.

"...I don't believe you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhh this is my longest chapter so far and it's literally so much it took me so longgggg


	23. Eric Cartman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations does not equal forgiveness.

I ran. Ran faster than I wanted to. 

I didn't end up very far away, just far enough that the bathrooms were a blurred grey building behind a few trees on the other end of the park. I was at the playground, the brightly colored metal equipment hurt my head. My head hurt anyway.

The crunch of icy wood chips was soothing under my thin sneakers. I slowed my pace to a walk and circled around the main piece, designed to look like a large pirate ship. Ladders lead up to the top, where I could just make out a steering wheel. As I admired it, a car crunched along the road to my right, and I suddenly felt all too visible to the world. 

I ducked down under the rigging into the underside of the equipment, where I was more hidden. There were a few fake cannons along the graffitied wall, and in the center there was a plastic table with a fake treasure map etched into it. I sat down on a plastic seat around the table, and finally released a breath. 

I wanted to talk to my mom, or Brittany, or anybody. But the sun was too bright right now, I wanted nothing less to be seen by anybody.

God I sounded like an angsty teen-romance vampire. 

I laughed a tiny bit to myself. I looked up at the sky through a ship window, it was the weird grey tone that meant it was cold out. I glanced at the sun. 'What time is it?' I thought. I really had no way to tell, but it was about in the middle of the sky. "Maybe about noon?" I muttered.

"Y/n?"

A call. Someone across the park had shouted for me. I could visualize it perfectly, a faceless person cupping their mouth with their hands, looking intently around for me. Maybe there were a small group of others searching for me, probably my friends. They all looked concerned in my head, and depending on the person may be close to tears. But they wouldn't see me. I couldn't let them. Not after how I stormed off.

"Y/n?" The voice was closer now. I heard footsteps on the wood chips, and darted up. I slowly walked towards a gap in the equipment, careful not to make any noise. I peered out, my eyes landed on a large figure. 

He was kicking at the ground, his red coat practically blending into the brightly-painted swing-set behind him. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, muttering something. 

I wanted to step out and greet him, but the mean part of me deep down told me not to. I wanted to watch him stew in his guilt, or whatever he was feeling. From his expression I could at least tell it wasn't pleasant. 

After a few more seconds he called again. "Y/n?"

It wasn't like how imagined. He was alone, when he called for me he didn't cup his mouth, instead just leaning back to yell at the sky. He didn't even look all that worried.

I didn't respond. Someone obviously yelled at him and told him to apologize to me after I ran away.

"Dude you obviously hurt her feelings, go say sorry you asshole!" Someone, probably Stan or Kyle said.

Then Cartman would respond. "Fuck you!" Angrily, and he would have to be forced to get off the roof. The entire class was probably watching from up there, just to make sure he actually did it.

I huffed. The thought wasn't exactly a nice one. It made me feel more pathetic than anything. A girl who had to depend on her classmates for emotional stability, and actually managed to trick her friends into giving her it.

I stepped back, my foot landing softly on the wood chips behind me. There was a sudden sharp pain in my heel as a chip poked through my sole, without thinking I let out a whimper. It wasn't loud, if anything I wished it was louder after having such an outburst. It made me feel weak.

However it was loud enough to catch Eric's attention. He turned his attention towards the ship. I turned my back to him, and looked at the ground. 

"Y/n? Are you over there?" He asked. I didn't respond.

He didn't say anything for a moment, I could hear the wind rustling the branches of the nearby pine-trees. I struggled against speaking up, I knew he could feel my presence. There was no reason for me to hope he would leave.

"Y/n I know you're there. Get out here, c'mon."

"..."

"Y/n why are you acting like this? Get out of there."

I shook my head. He couldn't see it, but he already knew what my answer would be. After another tense second I heard him audibly groan and mumble something about me being a bitch. "Fine, be like that."

He began to walk over to me. I watched as his shadow got larger and more defined. When finally out of the corner of my vision I saw him enter through the same way I did. He ducked under then stood to his full height. Truth be told, he wasn't much taller than me, maybe two or three inches at most. But knowing exactly how his mind worked made him seem shorter, but also much, much bigger. 

I could feel when he saw me, my skin prickled like I had been hit with a cool breeze. 

"Jesus Y/n why did run away like that? You made me look like a complete asshole." He said. I couldn't bring myself to look up. "And why are you acting like such a mute cunt? You ain't even looking at me."

I still didn't look up at him, for some reason that meant he won. "...Why do you think?" I finally said. My voice was watery, like just those couple words cut me from the inside. The anger I felt now was different from the anger I had on that rooftop, this feeling was a glass-filled tornado compared to a bitter, but contained wind.

"You purposefully embarrassed me in front of everybody, just because my friends stood up for themselves. And you know what you did was bad because you hid behind all of those little kids, I bet you even set up the entire game just to make me cry you jerk."

He scoffed, and his jacket zipper clinked as I could only assume he crossed his arms. "Why are being so rude to me?" 

"Cart- ...Eric." I said, trying to remain calm. "I don't even know how to respond to that. I'm the rude one?" I narrowed my eyes, even if he couldn't see. "You've treated me, and everybody else terrible."

"No I didn't you fucking whore." He shouted, anger was bleeding through his voice and the back of his neck was turning red.

I rose my foot and stomped the wood-chips with a satisfying crunch. It made me feel slightly better. "This, Eric. This is why I ran away. You're so focused on protecting yourself, I can't believe anybody even still hangs around you!"

He still didn't look over at me but he turned his body half-way around, now I could at least see his angry expression. "Fuck off, you and your stupid slut friends beat me up. I had a bloody nose for gods sake!"

"Oh you narcissistic... They only did that in self defense, you were bullying Lisa!" I ran my fingers through my hair. 

"Yeah...but..!" He began. He groaned loudly and spun back around. In two steps he made it to a blue ladder in the corner of the equipment. He pounded his fist into the banister, it echoed a distinct, ringing sound. Like a tuning-fork we used in my old choir to test if we were singing the right notes. 

"...Eric... Calm down...." I said, putting up my hands. His breathing was heavy, and he was staring at the ground with such an intense expression I couldn't help but wonder if I was safe. 

He collapsed his entire weight onto the ladder, gripping a rung above his head so hard his wrists were shaking. "You called me scum of the earth. And a slime and.. and a pathetic excuse of a human being. I was just joking around, and you acted like an asshole for no reason. Then your friends jumped me." He shouted.

I swallowed. "I-is that any worse than you calling Lisa all those names?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands, the other still supporting him. "I guess fucking not... but how come when I make fun of someone, it's okay for them to hurt me, but when someone makes fun of me I'm not aloud to hurt him? It's not fair, I just wanna get treated like everybody else." 

It took me a minute to respond. "Oh. I... I hadn't thought about that. I'm just so used to everyone talking about you like that. I guess I did get carried away." I said it genuinely, but even to me it felt fake. I hadn't technically even apologized, but only because the tear streaks on my face were still fresh. "But either way, you didn't have to go to all that trouble to embarrass me. It was mean."

He made a noise that I can only compare to a snarl. "What are you, a kindergartner? I was just trying to get back at you. You were the only one who cried."

"Come on Eric, just admit you were a jerk. You're always a jerk."

I clenched his fists, his face reddening. His breathing got even heavier. "I.. I...I can't. I can't deal with it. Everyone else is mean, why can't I be mean? Ever since I can remember people have called me fat-ass and stupid and gay, I hate it. I told you, that's how guy relationships work, we make fun of each other for no reason. And everything was fine until you showed up."

"Eric, what are you-"

"Shut up!" He stomped away from the ladder to the other end of the ship. Over where I was originally hiding from him. I stepped backwards so that I was still the same distance away. "Until you got here I could say whatever I wanted, and nobody cared at all! Now suddenly I'm a bully, even though I'm not the only one who does it!"

"..I think people cared about what you said to them before. I didn't change anything..." I mumbled.

He rubbed his eyes. "How stupid are you? Before you got here I could call Kyle a stupid jew, and he would call me a fat-ass, and then we would all shut up. Now that you're here, anytime I try and mess around with 'em they suddenly can't stand it. Suddenly now I'm the bad guy. And it's all your fault!"

"Exactly!" I perked up. "Fat-ass! You hate it when people call you that right?" He didn't respond, but in the split second of silence I could see his expected reaction, the unrestrained irritation that he automatically felt every time he was called that.

"Yeah, it doesn't feel good. Even though people call you that more than your own name, you still hate it, right?" I said. "That's how it feels to everyone. Maybe everyone else has started objecting to being made fun of by you because they're all growing up, and the only reason they still call you fat-ass is because you still call them skanks and douche-bags." I said, gesturing towards the rooftop even though he couldn't see me.

I was hoping it would make sense to him. I was just saying the first rational explanation that came to mind, hoping that maybe it would click. He didn't respond for a second. The tension was tangible, but it wasn't between the two of us as much as it was from my own prayers that I was helping.

"...Yeah, and?" He finally said. I quietly exhaled, but it offered me no relief. "Are you calling me stupid? Because I still do the normal thing even though everyone else has started sucking your dick? I swear to god the second you walk in they all start acting like stupid saints or something." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I don't fucking care what anyone thinks, I'm gonna be like this until the day I die!"

I was quiet. I could hear the distant chirping of birds somewhere. 

I sighed. "Eric, enough of this. This isn't healthy. I wish you wouldn't think like that, but I can't stop you. I'm sorry my friends gave you a bloody nose and busted lip." I said. I sounded resigned, but in all honesty I was. "It was wrong of them to do that to you, even if they thought you deserved it."

For some reason my face scrunched up. It took me a moment to realize I was automatically trying to hold back even more tears. I felt guilty, but also resoundingly unhappy. 

He still didn't face me, but I could hear his annoyance. "Well sorry doesn't do anything. I got beat up in front of all the guys, an-and now everyone hates me even more because you ran away like that." He pressed his hand to his forehead. "It's stupid, that's what it is. I just wanna live my life."

"Eric.... " I said, my voice trembling. "Please.... Stop this. I'm sorry the girls beat you up, I really am. I'm sorry I stood there and let it happen."

He scowled and kicked at some pebbles in the dirt. He didn't respond.

I scratched at my cold face. "I just... I get why you would seek revenge. We hurt you, and you wanted to hurt us. But you have to understand why I'm upset. I spilled something personal to the world, but I didn't want to."

"Shut up." He muttered, turning away from me. My throat tightened, like just his words were choking me with razor-sharp wire.

The tears in the corners of my eyes were hot. Way too hot. But they wouldn't give me the satisfaction of spilling. "No."

For the first time he turned to me, I almost jumped. "No?" He asked, almost with a mocking tone. 

I clenched my teeth and stared up at him. "No.... We have to talk. Not just about me, everybody, Eric. You're mean, and cruel, and you laugh when people cry because it's always you who caused them to." I spluttered, my voice angry and confused. "And when you get called out, you suddenly act like you didn't mean any of it, but you do, don't you?"

He bared his teeth like a wild dog. "Hey, don't give me any of that shit! I feel bad for what I did, is that so hard to believe!?"

I was speechless for a moment. "...YES." I yelled, my voice echoing around the empty playground. "Never once since I have known you, you have never been the better person. The first time I ever heard of you, it was because someone was telling me to be careful around you. I stood up for you within the first ten minutes I met you, and you still call me a stupid bitch everyday. Hell, I ran away, and you chased after me just to bitch about it."

"Not to mention how you treat everyone else!" I screamed, feeling my face get hotter as my anger reached new heights.

"Poor Kyle... any chance you get, you make fun of him and his religion, or his hair, or..." I faltered. "Or, anything about him really!" 

"Kenny gets the ass-end of every poor joke you have, and I know he hides it well but those jokes really hurt him. Trust me, I know."

"Stan... Well, I don't exactly know what you make fun of Stan about. But the way he acts around you, I know you're just as bad to him as you are to everybody else. Same goes with Craig and Tweek, and Clyde and Token, Timmy and Jimmy and Wendy and Bebe and everybody else!" I screamed, going shrill and shaky.

He growled, his back to me. "If I'm so bad to them, why are they still around, huh? If I'm such a terrible friend, why do we all still hang out?"

I steadied my breath, clenching both my fists. "Eric, let me explain it like this. If someone you have known your whole life punches you in the stomach everyday, eventually you get used to it. Eventually you start to say to yourself, 'At least they aren't punching me in the face.' and even though you know you deserve to be treated better, you don't leave, because that's all you know." 

"You of all people should understand that." I said softly.

He was quiet. "Eric," I whispered. "I don't understand why you do what you do, but I still care about you despite it. We all do. Maybe that's your fault."

Still quiet. I didn't know what else to say. I held my hands together in front of me and waited.

The minutes ticked by. Or, at least I think so. I tried counting the seconds, but Erics heavy breathing on the other side of the small space was too distracting.

Finally something in him changed. I don't know what, but I felt it. His posture changed, or maybe he made the smallest of sounds, whatever it was, I noticed. Then his shoulders began to shake. Small noises erupted from him, like hiccups, but with incomprehensible emotions behind them. He was hunching himself over and squeezing his sides. 

Was he... Laughing?

I felt rage bubble up inside me. "God damn it, Why do I even bother?!" I growled. My face hurt, I hadn't been this angry in a long, long time. I pushed my hair back with a huff. "You're a painful lump of wasted space Eric Cartman, to the rotting, slimy core. I'm sorry I ever thought I could be your friend."

I began to walk away. My face felt flushed. What could I do in this situation besides go?

I tried drying my eyes with my cold-knuckles, but for some reason I couldn't. I could barely see past my anger, and even though it was still quiet, I couldn't hear anything besides him. 

I was standing just underneath the edge of the ship. The sky had a grey-ish tint, and South park was for once completely, and unnervingly quiet. I still hadn't gotten used to how the mountain town worked. How its community sometimes seemed to stop existing. It made his presence all the more noticeable. 

After a brief pause, I continued on. I was no longer even a little hidden, anyone who cared enough to look to the playground would see a confused girl in odd clothing. My movements were slow, my joints were stiff, but I just wanted to get away from his unhappy laughter.

I reached the red swing set and for a moment I wondered what I was going to do. I couldn't just go home. Well, I could, but then at school tomorrow everyone will ask me what happened, and I honestly didn't think I could answer.

Before I could think any longer on it the distinct sound of footsteps pounding the woodchips behind me. In a moment I was turned around towards him, arms crossed.

"What?" I jeered, intense hatred in my expression. But the hatred melted away in an instant when I noticed how red his eyes were. He was chewing on his bottom lip so hard it re-opened the cut Bebe gave him. Those strange noises weren't laughter.

They were sobs he was tying to bite down. 

I didn't say anything. I stared into his eyes and waited. I didn't know what I was waiting for though. He met my gaze. We both sniffed, still staring bleakly into each other.

He hugged me, without warning but I knew it was coming. He slouched low so his head was on my shoulder, his big arms wrapped tight over my own. The bottom half of my face was pressed into his warm neck, too comfortable to lie on. I didn't know if I should return the hug, so my arms remained limply at my side. I leaned into his hug ever so slightly, just to bask in the safety and coziness. 

I closed my eyes. We both sighed and he let me go. 

Neither of us spoke again. He looked a little calmer, but still was holding back tears. 

I felt nothing in that moment, not even pity. It was weird. Usually I was the empathetic one, the understanding one, the one who made everything better. But now there was nothing. It was his problem to face, and he would have to do this by himself. 

"...Aren't you going to say anything?"

I shook my head. "I'm waiting for you to apologize."

"I already did."

I didn't fight him. My gaze was steady and unwavering. He sniffed again, unclenching his jaw. 

"...I didn't, did I?" 

I still didn't speak. 

He was shaking, from the cold or from tears I wasn't sure. 

He sat down on a swing, then wrapped his hands around the metal chains. "I don't know what to say. I'm sorry wont fix any of this."

I crossed my arms, refusing his silent invitation to join him. "Do you want to say sorry?" 

He looked up at me miserably. "Well... yeah! I just, I can't."

I waited for him to continue. I wasn't going to help him.

"I can't because... I don't know, I just can't. Sorry doesn't do anything." He repeated, and looked at his feet. "But I don't know what else to do. I..."

He wrapped his arms around the metal chains, and kicked at the ground. "I don't want you to hate me." He grumbled. "I don't want anybody to hate me. But they all do."

I nodded. 

"I just... I really love my friends. I know that's stupid gay, but I do. I don't want to lose them." He paused. "I don't want to lose you."

My expression softened. I kept my head held high and scanned his face. From what I could tell, he wasn't lying. 

I sighed. "You're right. Sorry doesn't fix this. In fact, I don't think anything can make up for what you've done to everyone in the past."

He looked up at me, fear in his expression. He nodded. "I know. I-"

I interrupted him. "You can't change the past. But.." I said. "If you honestly, and truly care about making things right, you can stop the terrible things you do in the future from happening." 

He sniffed, staring up at me, mouth agape. 

"If this is fake," I continued. "and if all of this is just a call for sympathy, I can not give it to you. I will not carry you. I will help you stand up, but you have to do all the work from there. And if you continue doing what you have been doing, I don't think I can be around you anymore."

I sighed, staring down at his large face. "Do you understand?"

He closed his mouth. "...Yeah." He said. "Totally, I get it."

I sat down on the swing next to him. It was too low to the ground. "If you truly want to be a better person, I'll stand by you. But you have to try, okay?"

"How do I do that?" He asked in a voice much softer than I was used to hearing from him. I glanced over at him, his eyes were clouded over with thought.

I looked up at the sky. "Just do what everyone else does. If someone makes fun of you, you have a choice to make. You can either make fun of them back, or just laugh it off. Or you can do both, and jokingly poke fun a them." I smiled lightly. "That's a weird way of saying it, but you get it, right?"

"Uh-huh. I get it." He mumbled, still staring at his shoes. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to face me. He let go of a chain, I let go of him. I took his gloved hand in my own and squeezed it. He fixed his eyes on his fingers.

"What... if people don't like the one I pick?"

I shrugged. "Then they don't like you. That's your own problem."

He swung our hands back and forth. "It is?"

I lifted our hands up. "Eric you obviously care what other people think of you." I said, rubbing circles on the back of his hand with my finger. 

He grumbled something in response. He met my amused gaze and rolled his eyes, before nodding sheepishly.

"And that's okay." I said, letting myself swing a little. "You're human, we're a social species. We're hard-wired to want other peoples approval."

He nodded and pushed backwards with his legs so we were both in sync. "I know. I'm human too."

I felt a closed smile creep onto my face. "Good. You need to come to terms with that. It's the only way you'll change for the better."

We swung in silence for a minute. His gloved hand hugging my bare one in warmth. We gradually started swinging higher, but still clung to each others hands. I let out a giggle when I pushed higher than him and he pulled me back down, making me almost crash into each other.

Everything was better. Not great, but better than before. 

"Watch this." He said, grinning at me as he matched my speed once more. I anxiously watched him, realizing far to late what he was about to do.

"Wait ERIC-!" I shouted as we reached the peak of our swing. He jumped, taking me with him. 

We flew through the air. It was probably only six feet above the ground since the equipment was so small, but in the two seconds we were both in the air, I felt weightless, like a feather floating in the breeze .

Whumpf!

Then gravity hit us. We fell to the ground, which thankfully was blanketed with several feet of snow. 

I had fallen on my back, so I was looking up at the bright sky. The single cloud in the sky was shaped like... well, nothing really, it just looked like someone splattered paint across a blueish-grey canvass, but it was pretty. 

I let go of Erics hand, somehow his grip was strong enough that we hadn't let go of each other yet. I sat up and looked over at Eric, still laying in a foot-deep hole shaped like him. He was grinning ear-to-ear, staring proudly up at me. 

"Did you really just do that?" 

He grinned even wider at me. "Uh-huh. It was great wasn't it?"

"We just had a very emotional talk, and you flung me into the snow."

He crossed his arms. "It's sounds better the way I describe it."

"And how's that?"

He sat up, his eyes shining. "After a bitch ass convo with lots of crying, a thottie and a hottie fell off the swingset because the hottie was also amazingly brave." I said, puffing out his chest.

I laughed. "Go off. I'm a thottie with a great body. And I need to get emotionally ready for work soon, so maybe don't throw me in any more ice, okay?"

He stood up, still in the little hole he had created. "Hey I didn't throw you, you just happened to be in my throwing hand."

I giggled. "Fair enough. Well, not fair, but I don't care enough. That was fun." 

His eyes scrolled my body before landing on my legs. "Uh Y/n, you're gonna get hypothermia." He pointed, I looked down and realized my thin pants were completely soaked through from the snow. 

"Oh." I said. "I hadn't noticed."

"Are you gonna be okay walking home? I can call my mom for a ride if you want." He said, yanking me up. "She'll do anything. Hell she can buy you new clothes if you're desperate."

I giggled. "Nah, I have extra clothes at work. And it's pretty close by, so walking isn't a problem." I playfully punched his shoulder. "But I will remind you I'm only wet because of you!"

He snorted.

I covered my mouth. "Wait no-"

We both burst into ugly laughter, I leaned onto him for support. He leaned back into me, his wheezy laughing made me heave even harder.

When our giggles dies down I looked into his eyes. "You know Cartman, I'm glad we talked this out. I'm proud of you. You're a good guy. ."

He scoffed. "Duh." But I could see a small smile.

My eyes fell to the snow while we laughed together again. I gasped. "Eric, look at that..."

He looked down. We had both had left imprints of ourselves in the deep snow, holding each others hands. It was perfect, anyone walking through could see it and understand exactly what happened. I crouched low and hopped back onto the woodchips so I wouldn't disturb the snow. 

Eric copied me, stumbling little and crashing onto me. He looked back at our imprints. "This is fucking sweet. It's like a something Vangoph painted, but less gay."

I giggled. "Considering how cute girls are to me, I'd have to disagree."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried. I needed to make Cartman apart of this harem, but he's a literal demon. So... this. I tried to make a redemption arc more acceptable, since I've seen too many
> 
> "I'm broken so I'm abusive"
> 
> "Well i love you :)"
> 
> "oop I guess i'm good now lmao"


	24. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After so long, worker unionize. But under certain bosses, sometimes you need more.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!"

I slid the lock on the front door open, smiling as hard as I could. "Hi welcome to Raisins!" I chirped at the group of boys that stumbled inside. Clyde wasn't apart of the pack, but knowing him he'd probably be here soon enough.

I sashayed over to my section, grabbing a stack of menus. I approached a table packed with teenage boys around the same age as me. They were all staring excitedly at me as I approached. 

Before I moved here I would have been uncomfortable. I still kinda was. But now I knew the type of guys who came here, and most of the time they didn't mean any harm. Usually.

I shook my thoughts away and grinned, setting my hand on the nearest boys shoulder. "Hey cuties, today we have a special on the mandarin-barbecue turkey legs. Three extra large baskets for only $10.99!" 

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Timeskip!  
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I smiled so hard it hurt my face. "See you sugar-bears later! I'll miss you!" I cheered, waving daintily. I glanced at the heart-shaped clock on the wall, just above the small Tv that always played football games somewhere through the static.

Perfect timing. A large group of boys had just left, right as I was due my break. I continued to flirtily wave at every table I got close to, even winking at one little man who I had overheard boasting to his friends all night about how far he had gotten with some girl.

Instead of walking into the backroom right away, I waltzed to Brittany, busily bent over a table she was scrubbing. She wasn't one of the cleaners, it was just one of the little shows she did. The table she was cleaning was occupied, and Brittany was stooped over so low he chest was just grazing the edge. As I approached I heard her giggle softly.

"I'm so sorry for the interruption guys... I hope you don't mind..." She said, biting her lip. She was so close to one of the men she was practically on his lap, and he was eating it up.

As I came up to them I got a better look at the booth. A group of considerably older guys, obviously just here because some random bar down the street kicked them out.

"Hi guys!" I said, waving happily at them. One grinned at me. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need Brittany for a sec." I turned to her, ignoring their stares with a pretty smile.

Brittany glanced at the clock. Her pupils dilated, but otherwise she kept her expression the same. "What's up girl? Have you met these cool dudes right here?" She said, putting her hand on the closest mans shoulder. He chuckled. 

I sighed dreamily. "Yeah I saw them from across the restruant. I wish they sat near me.." I pretended to notice them. "Oh!" I said. I looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry I forgot you guys were here."

And just to top it all off, I tried my hardest to blush on cue. It was never something I was good at, and they probably wouldn't be able to see it underneath all of my makeup anyway. But it was still enough for the men to nearly drool.

They smiled like they knew something I didn't. Let them think it. Brittany was still the one getting their tips. And I was the one who got to see her happily spend it.

"Britt, I need help changing." I said, my voice slightly higher than normal. "My new bra is just so tight...!" She nodded understandingly, then looked back to the guys, who were watching us intensely. 

"Sorry to leave early cuties, but I have to...you know." She said, gesturing to me. I pretended to be embarrassed again. 

"No, no. We understand what you girls need." The one closest to me grabbed my wrist and yanked me down to his level. "Hell, if I there weren't so many people watching I'd help you myself." He slurred into my ear. I smiled and pulled my arm away.

"Cool. Come on Brittany." 

We walked side by side through the rows of tables, waving lazily at the boys we got closest to. I leaned over slightly and mumbled, "Are you alright? Those guys didn't look like they knew what personal space was."

She patted the head of a random person she passed. "Oh I'm fine. They weren't that bad, just a little buzzed." She winked at him once she had his attention and kept walking. "Old guys are easy, even if they're jerks. Just give them even the tiniest bit of attention and they throw money at you." She giggled.

I sighed as we entered the back room, letting my shoulders relax as Brittany collapsed onto a metal chair. "I will never understand how you're so confidant. Anyone older than twenty who comes in here give me the creeps." I looked over to the wall where a series of mirrors were taped. 

Brittany combed back her hair and chuckled. "It's a gift."

"I think you've just been working here for so long it doesn't effect you anymore. When did you start? Sixth grade?"

"Fifth, I think." She thought it over as she walked over to me. "Yeah! I was eleven when I started."

"That's... not great." I was going to say more, like how shady it was that this weirdly sexual business was cool with hiring eleven year olds, but it was cut off by a yawn. I covered my mouth, but the sleepy sound echoed around the small room. A few other girls yawned.

Brittany giggled as she pushed a loose piece of my hair behind my ear. "Girl you sound tired. Did you get enough sleep?"

I nodded, trying to hold back another yawn. "Yeah, i'm just EXHAUSTED. You will not believe the day I've had!" I sat down on a counter behind me, right next to a coffee maker. She plopped next to me and continued fiddling with my hair.

"Oh, spill the tea."

I sighed happily. "Thank god I have someone to talk to about this. Okay, so me and my friends had a sleepover yesterday right? So they decided to walk home from school with me again today, and we were all just hanging out, having fun. And my girl Wendy says there's gonna be free ice-cream at the park, so we all go, get ice cream, and then literally everyone in my class shows up."

"Nice. Was Butters there?"

"Yeah, actually! During truth or dare I sat on his lap and had to pretend I didn't know him."

"WHAT?!" She choked.

"Don't worry, they totally fell for it. Butters looked so flustered." I kicked my legs, watching my loose shoe-laces fly. "I had no idea he was such a good actor. I guess it's because he's been acting like professor Chaos for so long."

Her mouth was agape. I tilted my head. "Are you okay Britt? You look stressed."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "How can a mastermind villain be so stupid?" She muttered.

I waved my hand, ignoring her. "Anyway, like I said we all ended up playing truth or dare. Over all it was pretty fun, but we had to end it early because Eric masterminded a whole plan to get me to cry."

She put her head in her hands. "...I'm sorry? He did what?" She whispered.

I laughed. "Yeah... It was a whole ordeal. He paid a bunch of little kids to ask me embarrassing things to push me over the edge." I rested against the cabinets behind me. "The one that got me was Craig's sister. You know Craig, the one who doesn't try with his costume?" 

"Yes, girl, I know Craig." She said, looking over at me concerned. "I'm more focused on what you said about Cartman! Do you need me to kick his ass?"

"Britt, no offense, but you can not fight." I giggled.

"First of all, fuck you." She said, lightly hitting me in the knee. "And I could seduce him! Then when he's not looking I'll stab him in the back. Literally. I'll go for the L-4 vertebra." She clawed at the air with her long nails.

I elbowed her in the side, she let out a small sound I can only compare to a horse. I pointed at her and laughed into my hand. She rolled her eyes back at me. "But seriously Y/n, I will help you in any way I can if one of those dudes hurts you. That's what besties are for."

I felt my broad smile get even wider. "Aw... Britt that's really sweet..."

She shrugged and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'm already an accomplice in all the crimes The Operaette and Chaos have committed, I might as well."

I snickered. "Wow. So supportive."

Suddenly I felt a cold draft. While we were talking I hadn't noticed a loud knocking on the emergency exit. A random girl had opened it, revealing our boss. 

I hardly ever saw our boss, so her entrance into the employee lounge was immediately noticeable. I had talked to her twice, once when we had first arrived in South Park and I was desperate for a job, and again when I had to ask her about my first paycheck. 

Thankfully, since then she had just been giving me my paychecks up front, and not making me dig around in ware-houses for them. So there was no real reason for me to talk to her. Besides she was never there.

"Hi." The girl who opened the door said up to the boss. Nothing more. 

"Who's that?" I whispered, pointing at her. She had shiny, almost-fake looking turquoise hair. She was tall, almost as tall as the boss, who was wearing 5'' stilettos. I wasn't sure how I hadn't noticed her before. 

"I don't know. I haven't seen her before, she's probably new." Brittany whispered back. I nodded.

"That would explain why the boss is here. She only ever shows up when there's someone new."

The boss cleared her throat. I realized we were the only two in the room who were talking. I looked to the floor embarrassed. 

"Are you done talking?" The boss asked. I wasn't looking at her, but could feel how pissed she was. 

"Yes Mrs. Classi." Brittany said. I nodded along with her.

"'Mrs'? I know you little bitches did not just call me 'Mrs'." She said, approaching the two of us. "Look at me? Do I look like a 'Mrs' to you? I'm a goddamn stripper for fucksake, you think I'm married?" 

I looked up at her. She had on flawless makeup, her highlights in her poofy hair matched her complexion nicely, and although her short-shorts and cheetah-print crop top were too much for most, she was rocking them. "Strippers still get married Miss. Classi." I said. 

I realized this entire time she had been holding her breath. As she exhaled the crowded space smelled like herbs. "Yeah you right, some of my girls are married. But I ain't never gonna get married, I ain't never gonna be tied down!"

I nodded. "Cool. Live your life."

She turned her head back to me, her golden hoop earrings jingling. She suddenly let out a loud cackle, it made the new girl jump slightly. She put a clawed hand on my shoulder. 

"You! You is my favorite bitch. You are always real with me." She said, grinning. I beamed.

"Aww, thank you!" 

She beckoned towards the door. "New bitch! Get your ass over here."

The girl did what she was told, and approached me and Brittany. Classi gestured at her. "This is the newest bitch, she just joined today. Since you're my favorite, you get to train her." She said to me, and began to walk away.

My eyes widened, and I spluttered out, "Wait, I'm on break."

She continued walking. "And? Just take your break later."

Brittany stood up. "Hey you can't do that!"

Classi turned around. "I must have dementia, because I don't remember asking you" She stepped closer to Brittany, getting into her face. "I can do whatever the fuck I want. I own this place. I saved money out of my own fucking pocket to buy it from the last creep who did, and I can fire your asses for not doing your job." She glanced at me again. "Train her. Now." 

She walked away again, once she reached the office door she looked back. "You too, Blondie."

Brittany didn't look happy, but she didn't say anything. Classi entered her office, and the door slammed behind her. The employee lounge was silent, a few girls left to go into the changing room to talk. The energy in here wasn't right.

The girl wrung her hands. "I'm sorry about that." She said in a falsetto.

I sighed lightly and smiled. "It's not your fault, she's usually like this." I looked her over. She already was wearing a face-full of makeup, but it seemed natural. Before I had joined raisins, I never would have realized how much she was wearing. "What's your name?"

She twirled her hair around her finger nervously. "Um... Sabrina."

I tilted my head. "Why'd you pause?" 

She laughed. "Honestly the fact that you can't tell is pretty cool." Suddenly without warning she clutched the bottom of her uniform shirt and yanked it upward, exposing her bare chest.

I yelped and looked away. I covered my eyes with my hands. "Girl what the hell are are you..." I heard Brittany begin. "...Wait what?"

I still didn't look back, but the confusion in her voice was tempting. "What's going on?" I asked. I heard shuffling and light footsteps I recognized as Brittany's. 

"...Wait." She repeated. "Are you a...?" 

"Yup."

"Oh my- Y/n turn around."

I did as she said, and hesitantly looked to Sabrina. She still had her shirt pulled up, with an amused look on her face. My head was blank for a few moments, but I finally realized what was going on.

"No fucking way. How do you manage to look that much like a girl??" I squealed. 

Her chest was completely flat. She had on a small beige training bra, which I could see was padded with stuffing. She pulled her shirt back down, and it just looked like she had smallish boobs. No one would even know.

She (he?) grinned. "My dads help me dress up like this. They used to be into drag, and..." She paused. "When they saw that I was kinda interested, they adopted me. Since no one else would."

Brittany slapped her on the back and grinned. "That's awesome! Are you a drag queen, or are you just a regular queen?"

Sabrina glanced from her to me, confused. "...Huh?"

I giggled. "Are you a trans girl, or do you just like to dress like one?"

She lit up. "Oh! I just like cross-dressing. It's fun!" She straightened her hair. I realized it was a wig. "My birth name is Sebastian. You can call me whatever you want."

"He or she?" Brittany asked.

"He, thanks."

"You know, I have a friend who does stuff like this." I said, thinking back on princess Kenny. "I actually just found out today. What a coincidence." 

Sebastian laughed. "Fun. You'll have to give me their snap."

Okay..." Brittany sighed. "Let's get with the training."

"Again, I'm really sorry." He said, looking guilty. "You guys don't deserve to have your breaks taken away."

Brittany shrugged, pushing open the door into the main restaurant. "The boss does stuff like this a lot. Oh," She looked back. "Just a little warning, she's gonna hide your first paycheck."

Sebastian gave her a weird look. "What?" He sounded like he didn't understand.

I understood his confusion. "Yeah, I didn't really believe it at first too. Miss Classi will take your paycheck and make you look for it." I casually pointed at Brittany. "Hers was in the U-Store-It warehouse down town. Mine was too."

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, for some reason that's her favorite place. Pretty much everyone's is hidden there." 

"What...the actual fuck..." Sebastian pushed his hair out of his face. "Isn't, like, withholding payment from workers illegal or something?"

I shrugged. "Probably. But..."

"We would get fired if we say anything." Brittany finished. I nodded at Sebastian's horrified face. "Even if we tell, like, the police or something, and they believe us, she would have to go to jail-" She continued.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "And we would be out of a job." 

Sebastian sucked air in through his teeth, his face crinkled. "That's awful..."

We nodded. I wasn't sure about my own face, but Brittany didn't look bothered at all. I was already used to the harsh trap we both worked in, but Brittany had worked here for almost half of her life. She knew better than anyone else we deserved better, but this was her day-to-day. 

"We need to do something!" Sebastian suddenly shouted. I jumped.

"Ehh... maybe." Brittany responded. "Anyway, the number one rule in Raisins is-"

"What do you mean maybe?!" He shouted. He was starting to draw attention from some of the tables, even though we were the farthest we could be from the main restaurant. He didn't seem to notice, and continued to rant as we pushed him into the kitchen, just to get away from the stares.

"Calm down!" She said, eyeing the chefs who just ignored us.

"Even if we can't tell, we should strike or something!" He said, quieting down enough to satisfy Brittany. I spoke before the fight could continue.

"Miss Classi would just hire more girls." I said. "It's a difficult job, but it's not like it has too many qualifications." 

He was at a loss. Brittany had her arms crossed, prepared for any argument he could come up with. I put my hand out, and Sebastian took it. 

I smiled, squeezing it tightly. "Don't be sad. It's just the first paycheck. And if you want I can help you look."

"Okay." He nodded, but he didn't look excited. Who could blame him. 

Brittany sighed. "I know It sucks. But we all get though it."

Sebastian shook his head. "No, I get it. There's no way you... There's no way we could stop her without risking everything."

I nodded, feeling much more hollow than I did before. I pushed open the door and held it for them, Brittany leading us. Just outside the door she stopped and looked to me.

"I can train her. You go take your break."

"Huh? Britt, you can't just-"

She shushed me. "One, it's not fair, two, it doesn't make any sense for us all to walk around right now. Take your break, you need it."

I leaned into Brittany and hugged her. "Thank you so much Britt." 

We separated and Sebastian spoke up. "Maybe stay out here though. If she saw you she might get mad."

"You know so much already." I giggled.

We parted ways, I walked to the opposite wall from Brittany's section. I leaned against the wall near an empty table, not in the mood to make eye contact with random boys. I watched them from across the sea of cheesy-fries and skimpy outfits. Brittany was doing what she normally would have done, taking a tables order (I noticed not the one I had taken her from). She had her arm over Sebastian's shoulder, probably introducing her to the guys.

I tried to relax. I leaned against the wall, underneath a decoration that said "Raisins at play". I watched Brittany flip her hair, and could see the boys laugh at whatever she said. My eyes darted to another part of the restaurant, where another girl walked past a table of boys. They whistled when she forgot to acknowledge them. She smiled and winked, then went right back to walking.

Raisins at play. That's what we're doing. A few girls who had nothing to do started hula-hooping. They were happy, but how long until they weren't? 

A girl standing near the doors greeted a new group with her cheery voice. They smiled and she lead them to a table. Another girl flipped her hair, her table laughed.

I found myself suddenly on the other side of the room, and tapping on Brittanys shoulder. She turned, still grinning. "Y/n!" She squealed. "Have you met these super cool guys-!"

"Can I borrow your phone. I need to call my mom." I said, not bothering to put on my happy voice. Her smile faltered with concern, but when she responded she sounded exactly the same.

"Sure! You know the password, right?" 

I turned and walked back the changing room, feeling sick. I recognized Brittany's make-up purse in her cubby, and fished through it until I found her phone. 

"Y/n, are you good?" A random girl asked. I nodded, and walked back to the conjoined bathroom, then into a stall without bothering to close the stall door. I sat down on the toilet, and just stared at the the floor.

I let out a shuddery sigh. Sebastian's words kept echoing in my head. 'There's no way we could stop her without risking everything.'

I turned on her phone, and entered her password. It was easy, just her birthday. She told me it when she was doing my Operaette makeup for the first time, for emergencies. 

When I unlocked her phone I immediately noticed her background. Her, me, and Butters, all on the shaggy-carpeted floor of my bedroom. We were smiling, I could remember it vividly. Obviously, it was hardly more than a week ago. 

I noticed my white wig in Butter's hand. The Operaette's hair.

'There's no way we could stop her without risking everything'

We.

The raisins girls. 

I gasped. It all clicked. I stood up from the toilet and stepped out of the stall, and to a sink. I stared into the mirror, imagining exactly what I would do.

I went to her Instagram, and with some difficulty, found the original video. Over a thousand likes and hundreds of comments. But I didn't focus on them, instead I rushed out of the bathroom and over to the door.

Just as I turned the handle, it opened in from the other side, revealing Brittany. 

"Oh sorry Y/n, I didn't know you were there!" She whispered. Sebastian was behind her, keeping watch. "Are you okay? You didn't seem right before..."

I nodded excitedly. "I know how to fix it!"

She rose an eyebrow. "What..? Girl what are you talking about?"

I handed her the phone, she took it and looked at the screen curiously. She looked back at me, still confused. I laughed slightly, pointing at the still image of the Operaette.

"There's no way we could stop the boss without risking everything, right? Well..." I could see realization dawning on her face. "...What about her?" 

"...Oh my god." She gaped.

Sebastian glanced back at us. "What the hell are you guys-?"

We shushed him, he looked offended. 

Brittany looked back at the screen breathlessly. "What's the plan?" She whispered, even quieter.

"Get everyone else to stay after, we need to wait until the boss isn't here before I say anything."

She nodded, and pushed Sebastian out of the way, stepping backwards. I grinned happily, walking back to her cubby and putting her phone back. Knowing Britt, she would have spread the word before my break was over. Of course, it would be difficult to convince the girls. But it was worth a shot.

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Timeskip!  
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"Bye! Thank you for coming to Raisins!" I shouted after the group of guys who left, the bell above the door ringing as it shut behind them. The restaurant was completely empty now, besides of course the few girls still lingering around. 

It was nearly midnight, and the restaurant was closing. It was far too late, especially considering I had school tomorrow. But I waited around for hours (promising my mother over the phone that I would be home eventually) to make sure I had every girl in the later shifts attention.

I rushed to the backroom. Brittany and Sebastian were waiting patiently, chatting quietly. The room was absolutely packed, and a few girls were eyeing me, most with curiosity, some with annoyance. From my scan of the room, pretty much everyone had stayed, to my delight. I would need every girl I could to make my plan work.

As I approached Sebastian pointed lazily at me. "Finally. Now will you tell us why you made me stay after?"

"Maybe." I turned my attention to Britt. "What's the sitch on the boss?"

"She's still here. Just a little bit longer." 

I gestured meekly to the office door, like it was a monster I didn't want to provoke. "Has she been in there all night?"

She shrugged. "No idea. And, I called him. You'll need back up."

I nodded, Sebastian looking extreme puzzled. Almost on cue, the office door opened. Classi stepped out with a clack of her high-heel. She was talking with someone else on her phone. 

"Yeah bitch I have..." She froze. Her eyes darted over the crowd of girls, most already changed to leave, but still sticking around. Several shifts worth of teenage girls obviously weren't what she was expecting to see when she walked out.

She squinted her eyes. "...What are y'all doing?" 

Sebastian smiled. "We're just vibing ma'am." He said in his perfect little girl voice. 

She glanced at Brittany, still clutching her phone. Britt smiled prettily and said nothing. The boss continued to glare at us all. "...Okay then." She put her phone back up to her ear. "Anyway bitch-. No I'm just leaving." She said. And as promised, we all quietly watched as she slipped out the door into the restaurant, and listened until the tinkling of the bell above the front door sounded.

We all waited another few seconds. 

"Okay..." I said. It accidentally came out as a terrified whisper.

I stepped into the center of the room, completely surrounded by the different girls. I spotted familiar faces, but most were completely new.

'No time like the present.' I thought, putting on a brave face. "We... are all completely different, I'm looking around and am seeing girls from every background imaginable." I said, trying to put my thoughts to words. "But despite that, we all come here, slather ourselves in makeup, and work hard. Obviously, this job is so, very, hard. But Miss Classi is making things harder, especially for the newbies.

Most of the workers looked unimpressed. Eventually someone asked, "Yeah? And what are supposed to do."

I took a deep breath. "I have an idea. Obviously, if we tried to stick up for ourselves, we could get fired. Or at best, yelled at and then ignored." I paused, trying to steady my voice. "...What if you could protest the unfair treatment, and put the blame completely on someone else?"

The girls started to mumble to each other. I nodded understandingly.

"I get if this is a little confusing, especially since many of you don't even know me." I glanced at the girls in different shifts. "But I have a plan that can make our situations better, and I'm fairly confident it will work."

"Y/n, what are you talking about?" Sebastian asked. I peeked at Brittany, who nodded encouragingly. 

There was a knock on the emergency exit. I breathed a sigh of relief, gesturing at it. "Oh thank god, could you guys open that please?"

The girls closest to the door pushed it open, then backed away once seeing the face that stumbled through. 

"Oh gosh, uh, hello ladies."

Butters stood still, eyeing the entire room that eyed him right back. I hadn't expected him to arrive so soon, and especially not decked out in his full villain outfit. I wasn't complaining, it would be much easier to convince the girls with him looking like this.

"What is he doing here?" Sebastain asked from behind me. 

I held out my hand, Butters reached over and took it, allowing me to pull him into the middle. "...This is my husband."

"O-oh jeez...!" He stuttered. I ignored it, trying to maintain my confidant posture under the burning lens of my coworkers. 

"Because..." I looked up. "I am the Operaette."

"...Duh."

It took me a few seconds to fully understand what I had heard. "...Wait what?" I nearly shouted, looking back at the girls. Literally no one looked surprised. Not even excited. 

"Did you think we didn't know?" Someone responded. Brittany stepped into the middle with us, the same confused expression that was on my own face.

"Uh, yeah?" She asked incredulously. "How did you guys even figure it out?"

"It was...kinda obvious." Sebastian said.

We turned to face him. "wait, you know too?" 

He shrugged. "I mean, yeah, during your break before the boss came, you two were just... loudly talking about it. Brittany even said she was an accomplice to your crimes.

Butters looked at me. "How are you a good actor, but bad liar?" He shook his head like a disappointed parent. "Wait, so all of you gals knew?" He asked.

Brittany shrugged. "Word spreads fast around here I guess." I had to agree.

"And none of you told?"

"Why would we snitch? She's a Raisins girl, we stick together." Someone said.

My heart fluttered. I smiled warmly out of the sweetness of it all. "Aww... I love you girls..."

"Ehm"

"And Sebastian"

"Uhh..."

I groaned. "And Butters."

Sebastian snickered. "Okay, now that you told us what we already knew, will you explain whatever master plan you have?

I smiled, feeling the previous weight on my shoulders disappear. "Okay. It's simple really."

"The most direct course of action would be to directly destroy Raisins from the inside out. Like, cutting off all flow of payment to the boss. The only way to do this would be if every single person who ate here would order food, but leave before paying."

A few of the girls shook their heads. One spoke up, "But then we wouldn't have any money either."

I grinned. "Actually, we would still have our tips. Our huge, fifty dollar per person at a table tip."

"Why would someone dash on the bill, but still give us a tip?" The same girl asked.

"Because, we would tell them to." I said simply. I looked to Butters, and he seemed to understand.

He stepped forward, next to me. "When I was younger, I would pretty much do anything a girl here asked me to do. There was this one girl, Lexus, when I was about ten I had the biggest crush on her." He laughed. 

"Hi cutie, nice to see you again!" Brittany shouted in a shrill voice.

He choked on nothing and looked around. I giggled and elbowed Brittany.

"That's mean. Butters she works the morning shift, she's not here."

He exhaled and un-clenched his jaw, making the girls erupt in laughter. He ran his fingers through his hair, embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. Anyway, if she told me to leave me a tip, but run away without paying, I probably would have done it."

The girls started to understand. I could see it in their eyes.

"So..." I tilted my head and grinned. "We serve everyone like normal, then when the check comes, we casually just tell them to tip us but not pay. They do it, not being seen because Butters here is going to disable the front cameras."

"Actually General disarray is doing that."

Brittany rose an eyebrow. "Who?"

"...I genuinely forgot he existed." I marveled.

Butters shrugged. "He was at his grandmas house in Florida or something."

"Keep going!" Someone shouted excitedly.

I nearly jumped from eagerness. "Okay! Eventually boss will notice no money, and question us. Then... I, or rather, the Operaette, scare her into treating us like human beings."

"All without the raisins girls being blamed." I concluded, putting my hands on my waist. "It will just look like you were all hypnotized. Once we get her to treat us better, I'll just... "Un-hypnotize you"."

The all eyes were on me and Butters. The room seemed more alive. All around me the girls were looking at one another, gauging what the consensus was on my plan. One girl stood up.

"Let's do it. Let's teach her some manners." 

A few girls cheered, Butters casually put an arm over my shoulder. I looked over at him, and he appeared to be avoiding my gaze. I snickered and allowed him to continue as the workers began to talk.

"And remember, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. But the more people who do, the more it will effect Miss Classi."

Butters gestured at us all. "You girls should probably begin tomorrow. It'll be easier to remember the plan that way."

I leaned into him. "Thank you Butters. You've been a big help."

He beamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh Classi. Just so everyone is aware, Classi is not a villain in this story. But you will understand that soon.


	25. Clyde Donovan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another mental breakdown.

"Hi there cuties, welcome to Raisins!" 

It was a few hours until I was off work, but it felt like I had only just arrived. I had served a few tables when we first opened, but today I was lucky enough to be the greeter. I would say hi to anyone who came in, lead them to their tables, and then wait until the next person came in. It was practically like a day off.

I lead the small group of guys who just came in to a random empty table. As I walked across the restaurant, I listened to each girl I passed.

"Could you do me a little favor honey...?" One mumbled. The guy she was leaning over nodded immediately, and she whispered something into his ear as I walked by her. 

Brittany was tending to yet another large table of older men. I just caught her saying something along the lines of, "I wouldn't tell... but I still need money for my new bikini..."

I finally arrived at the table, and sat the guys down. They were familiar looking, and I realized that they were in my class. Not anyone I knew but, I had definitely seen them at school today. They certainly couldn't recognize me though, especially if even my own friends couldn't.

"It's too bad I can't serve you sweethearts, but your waitress will be right over." I said, waving flirtlily at them as I walked away. I caught Brittanys eye as her table was walking out the door. I glanced at them, and she nodded, just subtle enough for me to see. 

So far, the plan was working out amazingly. I had convinced the few tables I served to ditch the check, and I pocketed the tips. It was crucial to hide that we were still getting tips, so we all had agreed to keep the money somewhere that couldn't be searched. Currently my bra was stuffed with crinkled bills.

It was still only our first day, but there was already a big shift in the mood. Several girls I had practically never spoken to grinned evilly at me when I passed them, which honestly warmed my heart. I could tell that lots of these girls were more into the drama of it all than the actual revenge plan. Who am I to judge? I love drama.

I walked the the front of the restaurant again, and listened to the various conversations behind me, I started to zone out. This was one of the many times I wished I had a phone.

Suddenly a lone, brown-haired boy came sauntering in. His tough looking expression was a complete departure from his normal dopey grin. I felt the sudden urge to hide like I always did when he came in. Somehow my brain still didn't make the connection that he couldn't recognize me in all of my makeup.

Clyde was going to eventually show up. It's amazing I wasn't expecting it, and even more amazing that it was making me lose my cool. 

I smiled brightly, grabbing a single menu. "Hi hun, Welcome to Raisins! Table for one?"

His tough exterior disappeared in an instant, and his normal Clyde-ish grin returned. "Oh hey! Yeah, good to see you again!"

He was here alone. I giggled. "Ditto cutie! So... why are you here?" I asked, trying to sound casual, utterly failing. 

He made a face at me. "I'm going to eat? Have you never heard of eating?" He chuckled.

I laughed. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry. I'm just a little distracted today sweetie. Come on, let me show you to your table."

I walked him to a random empty table in what would normally be my section, trying to ignore my legs, which suddenly felt like jelly. The part of my brain that loved my friends was overjoyed to see Clyde, but the rest of it was in full panic mode. Clyde never came in by himself. Something about him doing it today, of all days, made my stomach turn. 

I said my usual lines as I sat him down and handed him the menus, trying to catch Brittany's eye again. But she was busy with someone else. 

"Hello?" He shouted, waving in my face. I jumped, and as my mind rebooted I realized that he had been trying to get my attention for the past minute, and I had been staring of into the distance. 

"Oh my god, I'm sorry Clyde." I said. "Let me-"

I paused, noticing that he was staring wide-eyed up at me. "...You remember my name?" He asked excitedly. 

I blinked. "Oh yeah... Uh, yeah! You're just my favorite customer!" I said, quickly recovering. He smiled wider than I thought possible. I almost laughed and ruffled his hair. But I couldn't out myself, now more than ever.

"Wow! That's awesome." He said brightly. I smiled back, partly from seeing him smile and partly from my exquisite acting. But before I could sink too deep into my own vanity, I remembered that I needed to come up with some sort of plan. 

I waved cheerily at Clyde. "You're waitress will be with you in a minute!" I turned and practically sprinted away from him.

I spotted Brittany tending to another table. I started to rush over, before breaking into a flouncy skip. In my panic I had forgotten that I needed to be cute. As I approached her she glanced at the clock, then back at me, obviously confused.

"Hey girl!" I said. My tone eased the tension in her face, she put a hand on her hip and waved back at me. 

"Y/n! Have you met these fellas?" She said, gesturing at the random table next to her. They immediately perked up, obviously not expecting the attention. 

I nodded. "Oh yeah! I noticed them from across the restaurant, too bad they aren't in my section!" As I spoke I pointed back at my section. She followed my finger, and I watched as her eyes landed on Clyde. She looked back to me, eyes slightly wider.

"Well I'm sure you'll get them when they come back!" She glanced at them and set an arm on one's shoulder. "You guys will come back, right?"

They nodded rigorously. We giggled at the same time, and I sighed prettily. "Okay... I have to go to the little girls room." I began to walk away, but slowly.

"Ooh, I'll come with you!" She squealed. She skipped to my side, and we walked away.

When we were a safe distance away from both the table and Clyde, she stopped me and leaned in. "What is he doing here?"

I rose my eyebrows in dread. "I have no idea. Am I crazy, or is he never here by himself?"

She nodded, her blonde hair bouncing. "Oh yeah, before you got here I was usually the one who served him. He's always with a group." She leaned in closer. "I heard once when he was a kid, the girls managed to get his dads credit card off of him. He's pretty easy to manipulate."

I shook my head. "Now's not the time. Why do you think he's here?"

"It's probably nothing. But..." She said, staring at the back of his head. "It wouldn't be smart to keep him here. Should I get security?"

"No... No, if he's not here already for hero reasons, getting kicked out would totally make them suspicious. Let's not risk it." I looked at him, troubled. "But... I don't know what to do here. We can't just leave him alone and hope he won't notice what we're doing."

Brittany nodded. She thought for a moment, and the chitter-chatter of the customers filled my ears. After a second she snapped her fingers, catching my attention. 

"I got it. Go stand over there. Pretend you weren't here." She ordered, pointing to some random corner. Before I could question her she shooed me away, and I had to trust whatever she was planning. 

I walked around, like every other Raisins girl. I smiled at very boy I passed, my mind completely taken over by Brittany. I avoided looking in her direction, trying to look like I hadn't just been panicking and still sort of was.

Suddenly from the kitchens there rang a bell. Usually it rang once, from the chefs who alerted waitresses that whatever food that was needed was made. Occasionally it was rang three times by a waitress, to signify that it was somebodies birthday. I avoided Clyde alone at his table, and looked in the direction of the bell, which was ringing non-stop.

I glanced at another waitress to see what it meant, but she was staring in the kitchens direction, looking worried and even a little scared. 

I couldn't even count how many times I watch Brittany ring the bell with her finger. When she saw that she had everyone's attention, she threw her hands in the air. "Hi everybody! We have some big news!"

She pointed at Clydes table. "Raisins has finally had it's one millionth customer! Let's give this super-cutie a big hand!"

All of the Raisins girls cheered loudly immediately, I quickly started to clap. 

"Now..." She purred, looking Clyde right in the eye. "You get your reward." She glanced at me, so briefly I had to trust my gut that it actually happened. "For our super duper special one millionth customer, you get your own private date with your pick of the Raisins girls!"

My stomach clenched. Again, I stole a look at another waitress. She looked distressed, but not so much surprised. I saw Sebastian, who even from across the room was looking like an uncomfortable combination of both. Was this something newbies didn't understand?

Brittany clasped her hands together. "Alright ladies, line up!" 

Instantly the girls trotted to the kitchens, me following suit. We lined up, single file. As I faced the tables I noticed that every guy besides Clyde was looking somewhere between hyped and disappointed. I tried to ignore it and act natural, just focusing on the grand "winner".

The room was quiet, and I just sighed and waited for it to be over with. I watched as his gaze scrolled over each girl in the line, finally landing on me. We made eye contact, and I knew before he even spoke what was about to happen. 

"Y/n. If that's cool." He smiled.

"God has abandoned me."

"What?"

I smiled back and shrugged. "Nothing, i'm just excited!" I walked over to him, seeing his excitement grow. 

I hooked my arm in his, and practically dragged him back to his booth. I stood next to the table as he sat down, trying to remain upbeat. 

"So... any particular reason why you picked me?" I asked. He shrugged nonchalantly. 

"I don't know. I just thought you were cool." He grinned. I smiled back, not knowing how to feel. He suddenly faced me more. "Why are you still standing? Sit down, this is a date, right?"

I perked up in surprise. "Oh. I didn't even realize." I slowly stepped to the other side of the booth, lowering myself into into the leather bench. I nearly stood up again once my bare legs hit the cold fabric.

"Are you okay?" He asked, watching me intently. 

"Of course honey!" I sang, plopping down into the seat. "I just realized I've never sat down here before. Nothing's wrong."

He leaned his head on his hand. "For real? How long have you worked here?"

"I just moved here a few months ago." I chirped. 

"Oh really?" He asked, his smile widening. "I know a girl who just moved here too! Actually, her name is Y/n." He grinned.

I stared him straight in the eyes, not wanting to give away my surprise. "Wow, another Y/n? I've never meet another one of me!"

He sighed and his eyes fell to his silverware. "Yeah, she's pretty cool. She moved here from New York city. Can you imagine going from somewhere like that, to South Park?" 

I laughed, genuinely. He glanced up at me, and the sudden spotlight made me spit out, "No, I just moved here from Manhattan!"

I kicked myself. It was the first place that came to mind, since my brain was still on the city. I smiled at him, and realized that it didn't matter anymore. His expression and drifted into something else entirely. 

"Cool, cool..." He responded. I was almost offended. I told a terrible lie and he didn't even notice. 

I tilted my head. "What's wrong honey? Your face is all..." I paused, unsure. "...bad looking?" I inhaled sharply. "Wait no, that's not what I meant!"

He smirked as I tried to cover myself. He shook his head, silencing my stutters. His easy expression calmed me, and I hesitantly smiled back. I didn't have to force it, being around Clyde just made it sprout.

"You look distracted, I mean." I corrected. I felt the corners of my smile twitch in alarm as his gaze wandered away from me and onto the rest of the tables. "Hey... Clyde!" I nearly shouted. His eyes widened and he awoke from his dreamland. 

"Oh shit sorry. Yeah I'm good. I just uh..." He trailed off, his eyes lingering again to the places I didn't want him to see. I knew the girls would probably be hiding what they we're doing now that Clyde was here, but there was a very good chance of he would see it anyways. Then no matter what he was here for, he would tell the rest of the team.

"Clyde. Clyde?" I repeated, trying to snap him out of his trance. He didn't respond. I sighed exasperatedly and placed one of my hands over his. His eyes floated over to our hands, which I intertwined tightly so he couldn't ignore it. It was obviously much more than I would usually do with a customer, but his eyes wouldn't even refocus.

"Clyde you're acting weird. Are you feeling okay?"

He looked at me, his smile returning, but his eyes still hazy. I tilted my head out of concern, and he smiled even more and squeezed my hand back. "Yeah I'm great now that you're here with me." He purred.

"Okay..." I said. I should have been relieved, he was back to his flirty self. But... something about it was different. I could sense it.

We sat in silence for a moment. He stared at me, I stared back, unsure of what to do. 

"Hi Sweeties~!" Someone suddenly chirped near my ear. I shot up, fighting down a grateful smile and just let my workplace grin take over as I recognized the voice. Sebastian stood, hand on hip at the edge of our table. I hadn't realized he was working my section, but I was grateful for the familiar face.

"Hey Sabrina! Aren't I so lucky to have gotten this mega-cutie?" I cheered, leaning over and running my fingers through his messy hair. He melted at my touch. I giggled at Sebastians very small eyebrow raise.

"Very cool." He said, his tone was handsome, yet girly. I would have been in visible awe had Clyde not been there. "What would you love-birds like to start with?"

"What would you recommend?" Clyde asked, still staring at me.

"Oh, anything is good." He responded, peeking at me.

Usually whenever he asked someones order, Sebastian would have purposely added the most expensive items to his question. That way the money loss would be more noticeable.

He understood that in this one instance, we would not ask for him to ditch the check. "Just start us off with some waters." I chirped. Sebastian scribbled it down and left, but slowly. He clearly wanted to listen. 

"So..." He trailed off. His gaze was still focused on me. I realized I had no idea what to say. "Wanna play twenty questions? What's your type?"

I felt relief wash over me, and smiled. "I don't think I have a type, but I really like brunettes!" It was reflex at this point to hide my true opinions and make the customer feel special, even if it was my friend. I guess I did like dark hair, but not so much that I was biased.

He smiled coolly. "Sweet. Got any pet peeves?"

"Uh.." I said, trying to remain girly. "I really hate it when..." What was something that would make him happy? My mind was blank, and my mouth was dry. "...When people don't know what Updog is."

His face was blank. I inwardly cringed. Why was it that I was such a fucking dork?

"....What's Updog?"

"..."

"No way."

"What?"

My eyes widened. "No way. How... how do you not...?"

"What are you doing?" He asked.

I swallowed. "Sorry cutie, I just wasn't expecting you to... fall for that. Everyone I've ever tried that on already knew the punchline."

"What punchline?" Clyde tilted his head. It felt familiar. "I still have no idea what's going on." He laughed.

I giggled. "Okay, okay. Ask me is again."

He looked unsure. I almost laughed again at his concentrated expression as he tried to crack the code. "...What is Updog?"

I swallowed. "Not much..." I snorted. "What's up with you?"

I saw his expression shift and I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore. He put his face in his hands as I covered my mouth. I glanced around him at Sebastian who was looking like he regretted listening to our conversation.

Clydes laughter was real. And loud. I had forgotten how noisy Clyde was, especially in his happiness. But I felt much better, the haze in his eyes was gone.

"I'm sorry...!" He chuckled. It made me laugh even harder. 

"What are you sorry about? I'm the one who told the terrible joke!"

We laughed a little longer. Clyde exhaled out of his nose, his eyes sparkling. "Dude, you really remind me of the other Y/n. She does jokes like that too."

I grinned. "Fun. What's the worst one she's ever told?"

"Oh god..." He said, leaning back in the booth. "She actually hasn't told any lately. But she once made my friend Craig leave our table with stuff like that."

I giggled again. "You want one to say to her? I've got a billion." In my ease I completely forgot Clyde wasn't supposed to know who I was. Bad jokes were my bread and butter.

He shrugged, leaning his head back and staring up at the ceiling light. "Sure, why not?"

"Okay. Did you hear the one about the guy who ate winter clothes very quickly?"

He didn't respond, but his mouth twisted in apprehension.

"Yeah, he uh, really scarfed it all down."

His mouth split into a grin. I beamed, happy I could help him out.

He sat up straight, and my face fell. His eyes were clouded over once more, and his mouth had fallen back into a lazy smile.

"Yeah... Yeah that will work. She'll love that one." He mumbled.

Was he talking about me? I was flattered he genuinely was trying to save jokes for me, but his expression was off putting. We locked eyes. He was like the Mona Lisa, no matter where I looked, his gaze seemed to follow me.

At that moment, Sebastian reappeared with two glasses of water. Mine had a lemon wedge. I took the opportunity to look away and focus on the lemon, squeezing it into my ice-cubes.

He put a hand on Clyde's shoulder. Clyde didn't react, still lost in his trance. I made eye contact with Sebastian, he looked back at me, eyes widening in a very judgmental way. He made an indescribable face and I shrugged, knowing he was just as confused as I was. 

He patted Clyde on the shoulder, then began to walk away. "I'll give you two another moment to decide." He said sweetly. 

I met Clyde's eyes again, trying to break his concentration. It was like a staring contest, but instead of trying to make him blink, I was tying to drag him back to reality. But nothing worked. I thought, my head now starting to hurt.

He had fallen back into his gaze when he thought about me. He must be very easily distracted by his friends. I needed some way to get his mind off of me, and get it onto Y/n. The Raisins Y/n. I sighed loudly, catching his attention.

"You know, I don't have a type but..." He sat up straighter, I laughed nervously. "I do have a crush..."

He brightened even more, which was saying something. He nodded, encouraging me to speak.

I twirled a lock of my hair, and looked embarrassed. "Promise not to laugh, okay cutie?"

He nodded again. His mouth was slightly open in his focus. I twisted my face to look uncomfortable, and didn't speak. This made him antsy. I felt bad, but when did that ever stop me?

"Okay. Um, this is really awkward but... you know the coon and friends?"

He jumped and leaned into the table, his big brown eyes piercing into my brain. He nodded after I didn't respond to his excitement. I took a deep breath. 

"...I kinda like that Mosquito guy..." I put my head down on the table and buried my face in my arms, making a noise I had heard other girls make when confessing their crushes. I listened for a reaction, but when none came I cautiously peeked out at him.

His expression probably could be described in a billion ways, but I couldn't find any words that were perfect. Complete and utter joy, mixed with surprise and sudden fear, plus a thousand other things unnamable. But despite everything on his face, he was frozen. 

I took my head off the table, but kept it low and tried to look ashamed. "Oh god I shouldn't have said that should I? I'm really sorry cutie. I ruined our date." 

He didn't respond. He wasn't coming off whatever high he was having any time soon. I waited another moment, noticing his eyes were neither glossy or clear. He was staring straight at me, but also through me. He was dreaming about something, but I was definitely there with him. I didn't like it.

"Clyde. You're doing it again."

He tilted his head slowly to the side. Like he was trying to look at me from a different angle. His smile floating lazily on his face fell away. "...Heh. I just realized something Y/n." 

My heart immediately dropped into my stomach. "Oh? What did you learn honey?" I asked, trying not to assume the worst. Nothing he might have figured out was good. Did I forget to smile so hard my cheeks hurt and he discovered that we weren't strangers after all? Did he somehow spot someone pocketing money and taking none back to the register? Did my voice go so low he associated it with my alter-ego?

"I...Oh my god." He slammed his head down on the table, almost knocking over his water. I stumbled to steady his glass, then turned my attention to him. My loving instincts kicked in and I tapped him on the shoulder, which was shaking slightly.

"Are you okay? Here, drink some water." I said, pushing his glass towards his head. I didn't realize he would shoot up and chug all of it at once, spilling a large amount of it on himself. 

"Uh, good. Now maybe dry yourself off." I said, handing him one of the thin napkins from the neon-orange holder.

He wiped himself across his neck, missing most of the water. His face was sad, but his eyes were large and terrified, like a lost dog.

"Oh my god... Oh my god..." He whispered. I leaned in closer.

"Clyde, honey, what's wrong?"

His eyes darted around in panic. "I... I love her."

The entire world stopped. Everything seemed blurry. My heartbeat was drumming in my temples, but not painfully. Then as quickly as it came, the world started spinning again. Clyde was still in his own world, and I was just as confused. Though had a bad feeling I knew what was coming.

"...You love someone?" Was all I could manage to say.

He nodded. "I love her..." A smile broke out on his face. "I love her! Oh my god I'm in love!" He shouted, his eyes shining.

"Wow." I said. "Who's the lucky girl?" 

He grinned so hard I could see all of his teeth. "Y/n! I'm in love with Y/n." He must have noticed my surprise. "Don't worry it's not you, it's the other Y/n."

"O-oh." I coughed. "That's amazing cutie, but are you sure?" I asked, trying to remain casual. "Maybe you've just had too much... water, I guess." 

"No, no! I really do! That must be why I chose you, right? Because, you know, uh," He fumbled his words in his enthusiasm. 

"...We have the same name?"

"Exactly! And you kinda look the same."

I nodded. My head hurt. 

Suddenly his expression shifted. His smile disappeared, leaving his face looking hollow and scared. "What if she doesn't like me back?"

Jesus that was quick. "I mean, it's certainly a possibility cutie."

He looked up at me. "You think? Oh my god what if I tell her and she hates me? Should I tell her at all?"

I shrugged. This was a mistake.

"I won't tell her, I'll let her come to me." He shouted, like it was a question. Before I could respond he continued, "But what if she has to move away back to New York? Then I'll have to live the rest of my life knowing that I threw away my shot!"

I wondered if playing Hamilton was affecting him mentally. "I don't think that will happen Clyde." My cutesy voice was completely gone, I was just trying to comfort him.

"When you said you loved me... I don't know, you just sounded like her." He mumbled. 

He had just admitted to me his identity. He either didn't notice or didn't care. 

"I'm sorry..." He mumbled. His eyes began to shine with tears. "Oh my god... I dragged you into this... I was just supposed to be here for information."

I had seen people cry. A lot. I learned to identify different types of tears that I could mimic on stage. Clyde cried like broken glass, if that made any sense. His emotions overtook him, possessing him. He didn't cry, he sobbed. 

My heart shattered at his face. I stood up and hurried to his side of the table, sitting down in his booth. "Oh, Clyde. It's okay, I promise." I said warmly, taking his hand.

His hand was hot, like the effort it took to shed tears made him feverish. He began to breath loudly, his eyes frantic. I grabbed his shoulder with my other hand. "Clyde. Please look at me, it's okay."

He eventually looked to me. He was unsuccessfully trying to hold down more heart twisting cries, tears streaming down his face. I took a deep breath in, then out. In. Out. Again and again until he looked slightly more calm, and began to copy me.

A breath in, a breath out. I knew you were supposed to breath out through your nose to calm down, but it was easier to breath through your mouth. Once every few seconds he would break the cycle, beginning to hyperventilate. I squeezed his shoulder and breathed louder, getting him back on track.

Although I was breathing for him, it was also for me. Clyde loved me. And even if he didn't know it, he had just said it to my face. What would I do if he came to me and asked me out. If just knowing about the crush made him act like this, rejection would kill him.

Would I even reject him?

I hadn't even thought about having a relationship since I began my life in South Park. Especially with my friends. As Clyde moved himself closer to me, I thought about a life I could have. I had never been one to date too much. I was convinced at one point that I just couldn't love, since it took so much for me to truly even consider dating someone.

I didn't want to lose Clyde as a friend. His cries had quieted down and he was cuddled up to me, the side of his face against my chest. I gently stroked his hair. I loved him back, but not in the way he loved me. At least not now. The idea of a relationship with him, or with any of my friends, was terrifying. 

We listened to the hum of the restaurant, our breathing in sync. We stayed in that position forever, thinking over our own problems. It had dawned on me that I had technically did what I set out to do. He had come here for the team, and I distracted him. Though, I hated that my hunch had been correct.

Eventually he silently took out his phone. I watched as he entered a password and his home screen opened for him. His background was team Craig, three images of Craig, Token, and Tweek, each doing something ridiculous. Token had about a dozen pencils sticking out of his thick hair, Tweek was chugging a large coffee cup without using his hands, and Craig had a small smile on his face.

He went to little blue icon, and tapped on (Dad). He quickly typed out a message. After sending it, the screen went black and he placed it back in his pocket. 

He had asked for a ride home.

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Timeskip!  
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"I'm here!" Butters sang, bursting through the back door. I rushed up to greet him after Brittany finished my lashes. His arms were loaded with re-usable bags, and from behind him waddled in general disarray, also carrying several bags packed with unidentifiable fabric. 

"What's all this?" I giggled. Girls gathered around us, Butters turned one of the bags upside down and poured its contents onto the floor.

He grinned. "It's the costumes for you gals!"

I leaned down and began to pick through the pile. It was all skimpy and black, plus various accessories that looked straight out of hot-topic.

"Me and Doug bought out the entire "Slutty goth" section at party city."

A few girls laughed. "Why?" I giggled. He blushed light pink.

Brittany appeared out of nowhere behind me. "I asked him to. We need to act like we're hypnotized, right? Wouldn't the Operaette make us wear witchy costumes just like her?" 

I shrugged. "I know I'm her, but I have no idea." I looked around. "If you all really want to, I think that's dope. But when would you even get to wear these?"

Brittany clicked her nails excitedly. Butters leaned on a cabinet, like he already knew what she was about to rant about. 

"Okay, so basically, when she comes back all mad about the money, we're going to make a small, contained fire."

"What."

She shushed me. "Small, and contained. And we're all going to be dancing around it, pretending to summon a demon..."

"WHAT."

"Shh....shut up." She cooed, gently slapping me in the face. "Then the boss will come in, and be all scared, and then you will appear and tell her to treat us better. Hopefully she won't murder you, and we can all pretend to be unhypnotized."

"Then it will all be over?"

She smiled. "Duh."

"When is all of this gonna happen? Because I don't think I'm up to it tonight..." I smiled. Brittany nodded understandingly.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Not tonight. It's only been a day, she probably hasn't noticed the missing money yet. You get a break." 

Butters threw the remaining bags on the floor, leaving Doug looking very annoyed. He walked up to me, concern on his pale features. "What's wrong Y/n? Did something happen?"

I looked at him, my eyes lingering on the scar over his eye. I could trust Butters. 

I sighed. "It's nothing... I just..." Brittany squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. I groaned and put my face in my hands. "You tell him...!"

Brittany scoffed. Butters looked more concerned than ever. "Clyde confessed to her."

Butters froze. "Oh... Oh gosh." He paused. "Wait, which 'her'?"

"Me. The me me. I had so much makeup on that he didn't know he was telling me. He just thought he was confiding in some Raisins girl." I sighed. 

He looked me in the eye, slight fear in his. "Do you... feel the same way?" 

I shot up. "What? No! Clyde's my friend!" I crouched down again and began pulling a random assortment of clothes from the pile. "Besides, it's just a crush. He'll get over it eventually."

A familiar blue-haired figure stepped next to Butters. "Y/n. I was there. He said Love." Sebastian said. I clutched the fabric to my chest. He was right, of course. He had been there the while Clyde was having his breakdown.

I couldn't bring myself to look up at them. "...Clyde's very dramatic. He'll get over it." I whispered. I straightened, standing up and pressing the clothes I picked out in Sebastians arms. "These should fit you." I said, knowing full well I didn't know his size. 

Before he could respond I brushed my hair out of my face, still not making eye contact. "I've dealt with crushes before, Clyde will get over it."

I snuck a glance at them. Butters looked completely unsure of what to say, stuck between scared and confused. Brittany and Sebastian looked like they wanted to say something snarky. 

"Well... my shifts over." I muttered, mustering up the courage to look Butters in the face, pretending he was the one who needed comfort. "I'm taking a sick day tomorrow. If Miss. Classi decides she's coming back, call me, and I'll come. But... I need a break."

It was more of a statement directed at the girls, but Butters nodded since I was staring at him. Out of the corners of my vision, they both looked at each other. Sebastian sighed.

"Okay." He said. "We'll cover for you. But you better be back here."

I smiled. "Thanks guys."

I leaned into Butters and hugged him around the waist, burying my face in his chest. He was warm, and he smelled like baby powder. As I listened to his heart beat, I felt the extra weight of his arms around me, and then the added smell and feel of my friends.

We stood there a moment, quiet and thoughtful. I finally pulled back, letting the heat leave me. I looked at each of them, holding a hand of Brittany and a hand of Sebastian, leaning against Butters forehead with my own. 

"You guys mean the world to me." I said. I slowly stepped away from them, smiling warmly. "Thanks for being here."

Butters brightened. "Thanks Y/n! You mean a whole heck of a lot to me, too." Brittany and Sebastian snickered. 

"Are you done yet?" 

I turned. The small ginger boy was glaring menacingly at me over his large rimmed glasses.

"I know it's so easy to forget about me." He spat. "But I'm his partner, and I need to know more about this so-called plan."

I instantly was crushed with guilt at his words. "Oh." I said, glancing at Butters. "He told you that huh?"

General disarray scoffed and crossed his arms. "Of course. I'm his partner after all..."

I knew what was going on. The poor boy felt left out. I knew what that was like. Growing up the way I did, I never really figured out how to make friends until I joined the youth theater. Despite my own tiredness, I bent down to his level, trying to not look too condescending. 

"We could discuss the plan tomorrow if you'd like General disarray." I said using my best serious voice. He glanced up at me, testing whether or not I was joking.

"Ha!" He laughed. "Like I would ever go with you. You're just some low level sidekick." 

I shrugged. "That may be, but I'm the only one free tomorrow. And to discuss the plan here would be extremely unsafe." I said, looking over him at Butters, who was smiling at our conversation.

He thought it over. "I'm still not sure..."

I sighed, but smiled at him anyways. "You can chose the time and place. Allow me to make it up to you."

He got visibly excited, but coughed and looked away. "...Sure." He grumbled. 

I stood up and extended my hand. After a second he took it, and we shook on it. His hand was so small and nimble in mine. I instantly felt overwhelming love for this little bastard.

He spun on his heel. "Alright. I'll be waiting in the van."

Butters nodded, but he was already gone. I let out a small giggle.

"You didn't have to do that Y/n. Doug get's mad at everything lately." Butters said once we heard the van door roll shut. 

I shrugged. "Ah it's nothing. I need something to distract me from the whole Clyde situation anyways." I strolled towards the changing room. "I'm heading back home."

"You need a ride?" Butters asked, gesturing out the window at his van.

"Nah I'm good. I like walking anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y/n: Lmao 
> 
> Clyde: Did you just say that outloud?
> 
> Y/n: Yeah.
> 
> Clyde, thinking: God how how can I NOT fuck it?


	26. Little Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick break for coffee never hurt anyone. Doug doesn't count, he was already hurt.

I walked up to Tweek Bros coffee. I had never been here in my short time in South park, which I immediately regretted upon walking inside.

The interior was plush, comforting. It wasn't like Raisins, which felt like I was about to be pelted with golf balls the second I entered. It was much quieter, and although there were a few boys and men sprinkled throughout the booths, I wasn't forced to give them my attention. And they didn't want me to. No, this place was a good place. The smell made me sure.

I stepped farther inside, the coffee and pastries made my mouth water. I had a plastic baggie full of crumpled bills I fished out of my bra, so I could afford a few things. 

I slowly walked to the counter, a choice few cookies and cakes catching my eye. I peeked over the counter into the back room, trying to find a worker without disturbing the peace by ringing the bell.

"Y-Y/n?" 

I spun around, my eyes meeting Tweek's. He was clutching a broom like his life depended on it, and was wearing a green apron over his normal outfit. 

I gasped, practically jumping onto him. He shook as I wrapped my arms around him and squealed. "Oh Tweek! I haven't seen you in forever!" 

"GAH! I s-saw you y-yestarday!" He shrieked. I let him go, he had a faint pink running across his nose. "W-what are you d-doing here?"

I laughed. "I'm here to meet a kid." I thought a moment. "That sounds really creepy, I'm sorry."

His hand twitched. He turned away from me, continuing to sweep. "Y-you're r-really happy today!"

I giggled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend."

He gripped the broom handle tightly. He looked at me with panic in his eyes. "I-I'm so sor-sorry!" He stuttered, pushing the broom into the wood floors so hard the bristled began to bend. "I d-didn't m-mean it like that! I s-swear!"

I took the broom in my own hands, he let go easily. "Tweek don't worry about it. You're right, I'm really feeling good today!" I tugged on the bristles lightly, unbending them to the best of my ability. I handed the broom back to him.

He smiled. He seemed relieved. "G-Good. You've s-seemed so s-stressed l-lately!"

I nodded. "You don't know the half of it." I slowly circled him, watching him sweep. His eyes were focused on the floor, but I could tell he was listening. "So you work here?" I asked. Tweak brothers coffee... Was it a family business?

He nodded, his head jerking. "Uh-h-huh! My m-mom and dad own this pl-place, I've w-worked here since I was eight!"

"What's up with this town and child labor?" I asked. "First Raisins, now you?"

"R-Raisins?" He squeaked. I nodded. For some reason Tweek didn't make me nervous that I might slip up. I had stopped Clyde from finding out, for bettor or worse. Tweek didn't seem like that much of a challenge.

"Yeah, I know a girl who works there. She says she's worked there since she was like, ten or something crazy like that." I grinned. I looked up at him. "Why? Is there something wrong with Raisins?"

He pushed the broom into the floor again. "Gak! No!" He shouted in my face. His breath, like everything else around here, smelled like coffee.

I rose an eyebrow. "Tweek? Are you good?"

He smiled, larger than I thought possible for him. It was almost creepy, how his lips stretched and twitched, but still didn't hide his nervous expression. He didn't respond, but continued nodding quickly. 

Poor Tweek was probably having a heart attack at the the mention of my job. Clyde had been sent for information, so the team obviously had some suspicions about Raisins. I felt terrible looking at his sweet face contorted into whatever emotion Tweek was going for.

I shrugged. "So... When's your break? My guy isn't going to be here for a little while, and I'd like the company!" I smiled. His expression slipped away and he looked relieved. His muscles relaxed, and he stopped decimating the poor broom.

"Y-yeah..." He whispered, staring into my eyes. He straightened, smiled nervously. "Uh, I m-mean! I can t-take it now if t-that's g-good!" 

I giggled, his cheeks went sightly pink. I nodded, and he gestured towards a table in the corner. I walked over to it, sliding easily into the seat. I immediately relaxed, watching Tweek stand awkwardly over the table. He sharply took a small pad and pencil out of his apron pocket, looking at me nervously. 

"Ah, would you like a-anything?!" He stuttered. "We h-have twenty different f-flavors, o-or something decaffeinated."

"Um..." I leaned back into the wall, fully facing him, my legs stretched in front of me. "I don't know..." I laughed timidly. "I don't usually have coffee from places like this. I could never afford it from all of the hipster cafes in New York."

Tweek tilted his head. "W-Wow. You're r-really poor."

I busted out laughing. Tweek went red, and started profusely apologizing. "I didn't th-think! I'm sorry!!" He shouted, crushing the little pad of paper in his frenzy. 

I put my head on the table, still laughing. I finally inhaled and managed to silence the bubbly giggles. "No, no! It's fine Tweekers." I snickered. "You really have a way with words."

He still looked nervous. "H-How about you d-do a taste test of all our c-coffees? It's f-free!" he offered, scratching the back of his neck. 

I gasped. "Really?! Aw Tweek that's so nice!" I lunged myself over the table and hugged him around the middle. Surprisingly, he didn't jump. He instantly relaxed against my touch. I giggled. "I can hear your heart. How much coffee have you been drinking?"

I felt him shrug. "The normal am-mount." I pushed off and rose an eyebrow, he looked away.

"And how much is that, Tweek?" I asked, crossing my arms and smirking. He smiled and avoided my burning gaze. 

"Well, I'll g-go get your c-coffee!" He twitched, spinning away and walking too quickly into the back. I laughed and went back to my people watching. There weren't too many others in the cozy cafe, surprisingly, despite how nice it was to get out of the cold. It occurred to me that maybe my idea of cold was different from everyone else.

"Y/n? Hey!" I heard from beyond my thoughts. My eyes refocused.

"Kyle!" I shouted, pushing myself out of my seat and over the table. I halted the second my feet hit the floor, my eyes locked on his legs. "No way. You're wearing shorts?!" 

He lowered his outstretched arms. "Yeah?" He chuckled, looking down at his bony legs. "It's finally warm enough!"

I grimaced at him. "Disgusting." I muttered, sitting on the table. 

"What do you mean?!" He shouted. 

"That's what I mean!" I shouted back, pointing at his knees. 

"YOU KIDS SHUT UP."

Me and Kyle both turned in the direction of a very grumpy person sitting in the corner. "Sorry!" We both said at the same time.

I slid backwards into my seat again, Kyle sat down on the opposite side of the booth. It was eerily similar to the position I had been in last night with Clyde. But I was myself here. I didn't have to hide anything from Kyle.

Eventually I should bring Clyde here. I could have an actual conversation with him, maybe it would help him undo his little crush. 

"So what are you doing here?" He asked.

I smiled. "I'm here to meet up with a kid."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Okay...? Y/n, please don't be offended, but I have to ask why."

I drummed my fingers on the table. "I'm his baby sitter." I said. "I'm watching him for a little while, so he can decided if he trusts me or not."

"Makes sense. My mom's done that for my little brother before." 

"Oh you have a little brother? Me too!"

He grinned. "Oh cool! Mines name is Ike, are they in the same class?"

"How old is he?"

"Almost ten. What about yours?"

I clicked my tongue. "Nah they aren't in the same class, Kiyo's four. But..." I grinned cheekily. "He is in advanced classes. He's a little baby Einstein."

Kyle leaned forward, eyeing me maliciously. A challenge.

"That's amazing!" He smiled. But I could see his true feelings in his face. He was ready for battle. "Ike is pretty smart too, he got into kindergarten when he was three, but he's also stupid brave. Can you imagine my moms face when he went to Canada by himself to save a princess?"

I laughed, fire in my eyes. "Oh my god! It's like that time Kiyo took the subway across the city just to give money to a man he saw sleeping outside."

"He gets that kindness from his big sister." He said. Trying to flatter me. "I don't know where Ike gets his. Did I tell you about the time he forgave all of his school bullies, and was so nice to them they elected him class president?"

God damn it that's adorable. "Aww..." I cooed. His smile almost blinded me. I snickered. "Okay, you win. That's cute."

I sighed, knowing that my smile probably made me look like a dweeb. "...I'm really glad I'm friends with you, Kyle. You're fun."

His ears went pink. "O-oh. Thanks Y/n..."

I nodded. His eyes widened once they met mine. I knew he saw that the defiance had never left my expression, so I struck before he could do it first. 

"I can only thank Kiyo for that. He told me to find my friends on the first day of school. And.. I found you." I couldn't help but genuinely smile at him. It was the truth, whether I was using it for sabotage or not.

However my happiness grew to ungodly satisfaction at his expression, which was a battle of disappointment over the loss, and an explosion of tender affection. 

He gripped his chest, pointing accusingly at me with his other hand. "That's not fair, I thought we were done!"

I shrugged. "Sorry. I love both you, and my brother."

His eyes widened, the very tips of his ears blending into the curly strands of hair poking out from his hat. I covered my mouth.

"Oh sorry, are you cool with the L word? I take it back if you aren't." I apologized.

He shook his head slowly, his lips pressed tightly together. "...No it's fine. I just wasn't expecting you to say it is all." He looked away. "Not too many people here say it. Besides like, family and stuff."

I nodded. "Yeah it's like that a lot of places." He met my eyes. "I don't usually say it that much, since it's too personal for some people. Especially guys."

"Well, why are you saying it now?" He asked, fiddling with a sugar packet on the table. I smiled blissfully.

"I don't know. I guess I've been so stressed lately, being somewhere like this makes me happy enough to not be afraid. You know?"

He nodded silently. Kyle was a good listener.

I smiled at him, even though he wasn't looking. "I do love you though, Kyle."

He glanced at me, his cheeks dusted in pink and his eyes shining. "I.. really? Me too..." I giggled, and he looked away. "Would you... maybe want to go-"

"H-Hi!" He was cut off by my twitchiest friend, who came tripping in with a large platter of small plastic cups and a folded table under his arm.

He unfolded it and placed the platter onto it with the speed and agility of someone who had been doing this all their lives. So, completely the opposite of what I came to expect from Tweek. He then took two of the small cups and placed them in front of me.

"A-Apple cider and hazlenut." He said, clasping his hands in front of him. I tilted my head.

"What you have these memorized?" I giggled. 

He chuckled shakily, and took a step to the opposite side before freezing at the sight of Kyle. Kyle smiled politely, and Tweek nodded.

Tweek slid into the empty space next to me, I could practically feel his jitters as he slowly sat down, glancing at me once to gauge my reaction.

I clapped my hands. "Okay! Which one's this again? Never mind, I'll just try it." I said, picking up a hot cup and downing it.

"Mm!" I said, feeling it slide down my throat. Apple cider. "Yummy. But hot."

"Y/n, why did you d-drink it like a sh-shot?" Tweek asked. 

"Yeah." Kyle agreed, laughing. "You're supposed to sip on it until it's less hot, and like, savor it."

I shrugged. "I do what I want!"

Kyle seemed to go through the five stages of grief in a split second. He chuckled and shook his head when he saw us looking at him weird. "I think you've been spending too much time with Cartman."

I waved my hand. "Oh hush. Okay, I'll play by the rules." I looked to Tweek. "You have a phone right?"

He nodded, pulling out a badly cracked phone missing it's case. I laughed maniacally. "Good. Time me."

"Three...two...one." Kyle said, semi jokingly. But at his mark I dove at the small cups, sipping and savoring, but still as quick as I could. Caramel, sugar, maple syrup, coconut, something spicy, chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry, and a bunch of other flavors I couldn't identify. I felt much warmer than I did a few minutes ago, and like I had eaten a full meal.

"Wh-What the actual f-fuck." Tweek stuttered. I giggled, wiping the warm from my chin. 

I sighed, content, and slid down in my seat. 

"Not that I was counting." Kyle chuckled, leaning on his palm. "But I counted eleven seconds."

"Yes! New record!" I cheered. 

"Have you done this before?"

I nodded. "Yeah but it was with alcohol, so maybe it doesn't count." 

"Y-You drink?!" Tweek nearly screamed. I gave it no thought. 

I scratched my wrist, remembering the good times. "Well, I drank, once. The theater needed empty beer cans for props, and for some ungodly reason the props department got a hold of actual beer. So I... took one for the team." 

Kyles mouth was slack, Tweek appeared to be collapsing in on himself like a neuron star. I laughed at them, before Kyle sputtered out, "Wait, how many-?"

"It was a twelve pack."

"There's no way in h-hell-!"

I faked shock. "Tweek, language!"

"S-Sorry." He stuttered. "T-There's no fucking way in hell y-you actually drank that much b-beer!"

"Yeah!" Kyle agreed. I was loving this. "Especially your first time drinking."

"Well if it makes it any better, it was also my last."

"So you drank once," Kyle said, speaking through laughter. "drank too much, and never did it again."

"Correct. Go big or go home. I did both."

Tweek just stared at me. I stared back, daring him to blink. He looked away, lightly blushing "...S-So, I have to d-do a s-survey!" 

He pulled out the pad an pencil again. "S-So, did you have a f-favorite?" 

I shrugged. "I don't know. They were all good. Except the Pumpkin one, that one burnt my throat."

"Really?" Kyle asked. "I thought girls liked pumpkin spice."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "One, shut up," He chuckled. "And two, no one would like that. Even me, the most basic bitch there is."

"Y-Yeah, the pu-pumpkin is our worst selling f-flavor." 

"What's wrong with it?" Kyle asked.

Tweek shrugged. "No one can ever t-tell us. They just c-compare it to o-other drinks they've h-had before. Y-Y/n, what do you th-think?"

I held up the cup, remembering the sting as it went down. "I don't know..." I hummed. "I've never had any other pumpkin drinks, so I have nothing to really compare it too. Maybe it's not sweet enough..."

I perked up, and found another small cup. "Let's see, if I add the sugary one," I poured the frothy remains into the pumpkin. "And the maple, for flavor, I guess..." 

I picked up a nearly empty cup. "Plus hazelnut, just because I like hazelnut. And..." I took a small sip. My eyes widened, not expecting the taste. "Oh my god..." I said, holding the cup like it was made of precious gems. "This is so good..."

"R-Really?" Tweek stuttered, looking cautiously into the cup. "We've b-been lo-looking for a new recipe, l-let me t-try!" He yanked the cup away from me and took a small sip. His eyes widened too. He looked from me to the cup incredulously. "H-Holy shit!"

"Right?" I grinned, snatching it away. "Give it back!" I took another sip, enjoying the varied flavor. 

"L-Let me t-try it again!" He said. I didn't let go of the cup, so he held onto the other side of it. We took turns drinking from both sides, once accidentally grazing noses from how close we were.

I looked over at Kyle, who had remained quite the entire time. He had a mixture of disgust and jealousy in his eyes. 

He reached over to the table and grabbed the napkin-wrapped utensils. He unrolled them and found two plastic straws, then looked back to us. "Here, you guys are probably sharing so many germs."

I perked up. "Oh, good idea Kyle!" I took them and handed one to Tweek, who set the cup down on the table. We both inserted our straws and sipped, the sides of our faces pressed together. I could feel how warm he was, and out of the corner of my eye I could see just how pink he was becoming. 

I glanced up at Kyle again, who looked incredibly distressed. I held my straw between my fingers, "You wanna try it?"

His smile was strained. "No, I'm practicing social distancing. Thanks though."

I shrugged and let Tweek finish. He leaned on me, cuddling into my neck. I giggled, making Tweek flush even harder. "Are you okay Kyle? You kinda look upset."

He stood up, eyeing Tweek disdainfully. "I'm fine. I just have to leave." He snapped. I flinched, and his expression softened. "Sorry. I have to go get some homework done. I'll see you at school."

"Okay... See you soon." I waved to him, still concerned. I watched as he slowly walked out, his green hat visible against the grey outdoors. I sighed, feeling suddenly emptier. Like I had just made a huge mistake.

"A-Are y-you okay?" Tweek asked, finally peeking up from my collar bone. 

I shrugged again. "I think so. Did I say something wrong? I kinda feel like I did."

He sat up, still holding onto my arm. "D-Don't worry. Team Stan is al-always l-like that." He explained, fiddling with my fingers. "When t-things aren't exactly p-perfect, they get p-pissy." He said.

I looked at him, surprised by his cold words. "Jesus Tweek... I thought you were friends."

His eyes widened. "S-Sorry!" He looked away bashfully. He whispered something I couldn't hear.

"Hmm?" I hummed, leaning in closer.

He shook his head, letting go of me. "N-nothing! It's n-not i-important."

He stood up and collected his things, again, faster than I would have thought possible for Tweek. But this time it seemed more out of anxiety than work ethic. "I'll see y-you in a l-little bit. My b-break is over."

And with that, he left me alone, feeling even weirder. My questions weren't answered, but I was left with the sinking feeling that either I had screwed something up, or they did something to each other. I reached emptily for a a drink, before realizing Tweek had taken them all away. It was like I had never interacted with anything, I still had the same amount of money in my purse and I was still waiting for Doug.

I smiled. Life sure is precious. 

I stood up from the booth and wandered over to the counter, where an older man was waiting. He smiled kindly at me. "Hello welcome to Tweek Bothers coffee, what would you like?"

I scanned the menu, remembering all the flavors I had just enjoyed. "I'll take a... Strawberry one." I said unsure. "I'm sorry I don't order coffee that much. A... small strawberry macchiato please." I held my breath, having no idea if what I had just said existed.

He nodded. "Right away, anything else?"

"Oh yeah! Tweek said there were kid drinks too? Like stuff that isn't too caffeinated?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

He nodded, turning to prepare my drink. "Oh are you one of his school friends? We only have water bottles and milk, but we serve deserts too." 

"Yup! He's one of my besties." I extended my hand to him. "My names Y/n, nice to meet you sir!" 

He blinked, and slowly took my hand. "Oh. Tweek's talked so much about you..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, you're Y/n?"

I laughed at his expression. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

"...Yes, you are them." He straightened. "Sorry, I just thought you were a boy from the way he described you."

"I'm flattered." 

He chuckled, screwing on a lid over the swirling steam. "I just mean that he talks about you very fondly. He's a homosexual you know."

"Oh?" I said, trying not to laugh at how he spoke. "I didn't know that. Good for him."

"Yes!" He said proudly. "He's a gay little boy and I'm very proud of him." 

"Good for you."

"Here you go," He said, handing me my drink. I reached for my purse and he stopped me. "No, free of charge. And here! Take a water bottle." He opened the little cooler behind him and practically threw it at me. 

"Oh, uh, thank you sir!" I laughed, catching it and grabbing my drink from the counter. 

"I love my son!" 

I avoided looking at him, afraid I would break into laughter. Glancing around, no one was reacting. I guess this was a normal occurrence. 

At least Tweek has supportive parents. It was sweet.

"Hello."

I looked over my shoulder, and met general Disarray's fiery gaze over his thick rimmed glasses. I turned, and saw and older woman behind him, with matching red hair.

I smiled. "Hey Doug, how you doing?"

The woman approached me, somewhat forcing him to the side. "Hi, I'm Douggie's mom. Are you Leopold's girlfriend?"

Leopold? I put the pieces together and nodded hesitantly. "You mean Butters? Yeah we're... something alright."

"Oh good. Where is he?" 

I glanced over at Doug, who looked uncomfortable. "Oh, he'll be here soon. He told me to save him a table."

She nodded. "Well that sounds okay." She extended her hand to me and we shook. 

"My name's Y/n. How do you know Butters?"

She reached out and grabbed her son by the shoulder. "Oh he and my Douggie have been playmates for years!" She sang. She sounded like a chicken. "I can trust him with my life any day!"

I couldn't hold back a smile. "How sweet! Well, he just texted me, he said he'll get here as soon as he can."

"That's good." For the first time she looked down at her son. She pinched his cheek and kissed his forehead. "Bye-bye kiddo! Have fun with your little friends!"

He made a noise and flinched away. She let go and waved as she strolled out the doors. 

My eyes fell onto him. "You told her Butters would be here?"

"You told her you had a phone."

"Fair enough." I giggled. "By the way, if anyone asks i'm babysitting you."

He made a face. "Why? Just to embarrass me?"

"Well I couldn't just say 'Oh I'm meeting a young child here alone!'"

"Why not?"

I sighed, and began leading him to the table. "It's not a good look. Oh," I handed him the water bottle. "You want this? I didn't know what to get you, and he kind of threw it at me."

"Uh... sure." He mumbled a soft thank you and set it down in the table, pushing himself up into the booth. 

I sat back down in my seat, watching his small hands fumble with the cap. He grumbled and twisted as hard as he could. "Do you want-"

"No."

He continued to try and fail. He bit his lip impatiently, I listen blankly to the bottle crinkle under his grip. He finally pushed it away from him. "I'll save it for later. Now tell me the plan!"

"Oh right, that's why we're here. Well, how much do you know?" 

He put his head on the table and glared up at me. "Nothing."

"Okay, I guess I'll just start at the beginning then!" I said, stirring my coffee. "So, this plan doesn't really involve you or Butters, it's just the Operaette and-"

"Of course it doesn't. Why would I think otherwise?" He snarked, interrupting me. I waited, he continued. "How are you even supposed to be his partner? You just show up one day and he decided that your perfect for the job? You don't even have any combat training!"

I pointed at the counter. "Do you want a desert? I have money."

"...Vanilla Ice-cream. Chocolate sprinkles."

I stood up and hurried over to the counter, purchasing it as quickly as I could and setting it down in front of him. He was whispering curses to himself.

He tenderly picked up his spoon and started stirring it around, a scowl still fresh on his face. "It's stupid."

"What is?"

"You."

"What did I do?"

He impatiently tapped his spoon on the small dish. His face twisted in thought. Finally he dropped the spoon onto the table and slouched back into his chair. "I don't-!" He covered his eyes and growled. "I don't know, okay?! It's just... why did he choose you? What's so great about you?"

I put the straw to my lips and drank, listening. 

"I've been with him for so long. We we're a team, even if I was just his stupid sidekick." I felt him kick one of the table legs. "Then suddenly you're here? Why? What did you do that makes you so good, you're his partner?"

I flashed back to the day I met him. I sang, I fell, he patched me up. I spilled my entire life to him. 

"... Butters knew I was lost, and he tried to lead me. But I guess he didn't ask you if that was okay."

"No. He didn't."

"Well, you left didn't you?" I offered. "You were with family for a few weeks?"

"One. week." He snapped. "And it's not like I didn't talk to him." I tilted my head. "I texted him. He was the one who didn't respond."

He was fussing with his hair angrily. "He left me on read. Then I saw on the video." He picked up the spoon again and stirred. "Not only did he find a new partner, he had a new family. When I came back, that's all I heard about. Professor Chaos and his 'wife'." He gagged. 

"You came back after one week." I said, my eyebrows creeping together. "That means... honey, did Butters completely ignore you?"

I could see his glasses begin to fog up. "More like he completely forgot about me." He muttered, stirring his ice-cream even harder. 

"I'm replaceable. That's all I am. I kept waiting for him to talk to me. To message me, to do anything. But I didn't even cross his mind."

"Oh..." I said softly, not knowing what else to say. "I'm so sorry, Butters has always been so sweet to me, I never would have thought he might treat you-"

"Why would he treat you badly? He loves you, you're his wife."

I flinched back. "Huh?"

"I don't understand why. I would never marry someone as stupid as you." He looked down at his lap. "So... I don't know. Can you talk to him? He doesn't respect me, but..." He cowered into his ice-cream. "He respects you."

My throat tightened. "...Of course. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Oh gross, are you crying?"

"No!" I sobbed. I saw him roll his eyes, before pushing his napkin at me. 

"You aren't gonna get all emotional when you talk to him, are you?"

I wiped away a tear. "No... I probably will." I breathed in. "Okay tell you what, I'll figure out a way to tell him without mentioning you. That way I won't be a little bitch."

He glared at me thoughtfully. "...That might work. As long as you make it clear whats needed."

"Of course."

We sat in silence for a moment, I sipped my drink. Eventually he frowned. "I won't be one of you weird 'kids'."

I nodded again. "That's fine. But just so you know, i'll always consider you a friend." I twirled my cup and felt the warmth travel around it. "You don't have to be a part of the family. You're just a wonderful companion." 

His lips curled into an embarrassed sneer. "You would say that, too." He pushed the spoon through the soft cream and set it in his mouth, refusing to look at me. That moment a mass of clouds finally passed the sun, and a ray of light shined through the window onto our table. It shone through his water bottle and make the wall shimmer.

He pinched the cap and slowly spun the bottle, watching quietly as the sparkling pattern changed with each movement. Like a 3-D kaleidoscope. 

"I still hate you." He mumbled.

I smiled softly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I'm trying to write characters with flaws. Butters is far too into you, so much so that he ignored his best friend. Don't worry though, he'll get what he deserves.


	27. Love Spells (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our little Y/n and her posse manage to blackmail the most terrifying woman on earth.

"Okay, are we all ready?" 

"Y/n, am I showing too much boob?" Sebastian asked. I looked to him, his skimpy outfit covering up everything, including his less common parts. His smallish chest was fake, but if I hadn't known I would have never guess. 

"Yeah."

"Okay good," He turned away, "WHO HAS THE SHOES? I NEED TO BE TALL."

"Over here!" Someone shouted. He ran towards them, sliding effortlessly down the tile floors in his stockings. I snickered and spun around, watching my cape spin. 

"Ah, careful!" Butters cried. "Your hem isn't sewn yet! Not to mention your cape. I'm trying to steam the fur, so it's more lush, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"But the thing is," He continued, his mouth full of needles. "I decided to try and save some money, so instead of getting a good quality polyester/silk blend like I wanted, I just got Polyester fur."

"Yeah It's soft, I love it!"

He lifted up my skirt slightly and stuck in a pin, quickly sewing it up. "Sure it's soft, but it's impossible to steam! It just looks damp." He said, smoothing the creases with the palms of his hands. I could feel his touch through the fabric.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Damn you sure know a lot about costuming." 

"I've been a villain for years. Tinfoil is good for almost everything, but I had to learn some other things along the way." 

I crouched down to his level and ran my fingers through his hair. He smiled sweetly at me, turning light pink. "You're the brains of this operations. And the brawns, I guess, I'm not very strong." I laughed. "And the beauty, blondie." 

"Ah... Thanks...Y/n..." He said tenderly, leaning his head into my hand like a happy cat. "But what does that leave you?"

I smiled. "Duh, i'm the top!" 

He stumbled back, stuttering out nonsense and staring up and me with wide eyes. I stood back up skipped across the room, enjoying the little time I would have without my clunky heels. "Britt! How's my hair?" 

She looked up from the mannequin head that held my white wig. "Terrible, but the Operaettes hair is gorgeous." I feigned shock, she laughed. "I'm just kidding, your hair comes in close second. But seriously, look at this! It's my best work!" I gingerly picked up a loose lock between my fingers, curled. The rest of it was put into a complex braid adorned with fake flowers, just enough strands poking out to look simple and pretty, despite Brittany massaging her tired fingers. 

"Oh my god... How-?"

She smiled proudly. "I'm not even done yet, I need to spray the hell out of it so it doesn't become loose during the dance."

"That reminds me," I said, sitting down in a chair next to her. "What kind of dance are we doing? I get it has to look witchy, but... I literally have no idea what I'm supposed to do. What's the footwork? What do I do with my arms?"

She stuck a bobby pin in the wig absentmindedly. "We were just going to play it by ear. The girls and me will be sitting around the fire and chanting, then you'll walk in the room and lead us in a dance around it. Easy." 

"I've never done a dance without months of practice before." I said. She shrugged.

"Tonight's a good time to learn. You're our leader. You like those plays and stuff, right? Think of it like you're the star, and we're the back-up dancers."

I itched at the back of my neck. "That's the thing, I've never been the star. I've never had to dance alone on stage." 

"This is good practice. Number one, you aren't alone. And number two, your audience is one person, and she wont even know who you are." She grabbed a flat brush from besides her, brushing away at my made-up face. "Especially with this contouring. Why didn't you want to wear your mask again?"

"Butters found a half-mask, and it was super cute. It matched the aesthetics of this whole operation better." 

She giggled. "You're really only in this for the fashion, aren't you?" 

I shut my eyes as she ran the brush over them. "No, I'm here because I enjoy getting chocked by teenagers in raccoon masks." I opened my eyes. "What's a furry? I feel like saying that makes me a furry." 

Sebastian came clopping over, wearing a cute black pair of pumps. He twirled. "Look at me!" He sang. "RuPaul could never! Quick, take a picture!" He tossed a glittery phone over to me. 

"How do I... Oh, okay." He posed, and I tapped the photo icon. It clicked, and he took the phone from me again. I peeked over his shoulder. "Oh that came out good! Don't post it anywhere, it'll give us away."

He rolled his eyes. "You worry too much. I just want it for the memories." He showed it to Brittany, who was busily working on my wig once more. "I would send it to my dads, but, you know, we're committing a crime."

"Are we?" I asked as Sebastian walked off. "What would we get charged for if they caught us?"

"Uhh... well the idea behind this all is that you brainwashed us, so you'd probably got to prison for that. The rest of us would probably be free. But since Butters obliterated the security system, he'd probably get punished too." Brittany said.

"I'm not really brainwashing you! No way they could do me in for that! I have evidence."

Sebastian returned, my heels in hand. I began to strap them on. "No, but they'd still want to talk about how they captured one of South Parks most infamous villains. There's no way your identity wouldn't get leaked."

"Huh." I said. "So basically, if this fails, I'm going down. Big time."

Brittany blew a rasberry. "No, your husband would protect you. Right Butters?" She called over the sea of Raisins girls. 

He looked towards us. "What?"

"Yeah, he would." I nodded. 

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

Timeskip!

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

"So... How are we supposed to get her attention? It's almost midnight, she's not checking the money now." I said. The girls had filtered out of the dressing room and were just wandering around the restaurant, some in little groups, some alone, all gushing over their outfits. 

Everyone had mix and matched every accessory and piece of clothing, making each girl unique. No one seemed to mind how skimpy the costumes were. Now that they weren't being forced to wear something revealing (Butters also offered black cloaks, a few girls opted to wear them instead) they didn't seem to mind choosing what was normally seen as 'too much'.

"Don't worry." Butters responded. "General Disarray figured something out."

"Wow." I said, holding the O and looking up at him expectantly. "He's pretty smart, huh?"

He hummed in agreement. "The two of us will be working in the background. We'll be playing some spooky music, and we have an emergency fire extinguisher in case you gals trip into the fire."

"Mmm..." That image was not the best. "Well, that's good. By the way, where-?"

"Y/n!" Brittany screamed happily. I spun to face her. "Come see the ritual circle! You're the theater geek, make sure the props are good enough." She grabbed my hand and yanked me away. 

I looked past her strong grip on my arm to her body. "I love your outfit!" It was a lot like the others, including cheap bat wings in her hair, a pointed devils tail, and thigh-high leather boots. Her outfit was even more revealing than the others though, it looked like she just took leather accessories that would be worn to hold a costume in place rather than pick an actual costume.

"Thanks! I honestly wish I could wear it all the time."

"I wish you'd wear it all the time too." I snickered. She rolled her eyes and elbowed be in the ribs. I gasped and keeled over.

"That's what you get."

I regained my composure. "Damn Britt, you knocked the breath out of me!" She giggled and I shot finger guns at her. "In other words, you took my breath away."

She sighed so hard her nose whistled, but then she laughed. "Stoooop!" 

"You're so weird."

"At least I'm not a teenage mother of two goth tweens." She retorted, continuing to take me to the witchcraft.

She dragged me to the other side of the restaurant, here a assorted amount of girls were chattering, tossing scraps of receipts into a large metal pot taken from the kitchen. Around it were small piles of rocks that looked like they came from the alleyway.

I got closer and realized they were arranged around a pentagram. I bent down and touched it. Some terrible primal urge told be put it in my mouth, but I smelled it first."...Is this ketchup?"

"Yup. We were gonna use our lipsticks, but that would have been a waste."

I glanced at the empty ketchup bottle poking out of the recycling. "Whatever you say. I assume we're going to be burning the receipts?" I asked, watching as they shredded them like confetti and sprinkled them inside, having far too much fun. 

She nodded. "Yeah, we have too many since no one is paying. So it's kind of like we're cleaning up the place!"

"You mean destroying the evidence?"

"Whatever! Doesn't it look great?" She squealed, causing me to smile. I nodded, and she continued, leading me around the circle. "We're gonna pour in lighter fluid, since apparently gasoline is dangerous, and then it'll go up! The boss will come in, you'll do your whole shtick, then we'll put it out. Easy."

"Yeah sounds good! Do we light it before she comes in, or after?" I asked. She stopped, almost sending me crashing into her. 

"Oh... I don't know actually... what would be more dramatic?"

I felt like new life had been breathed into me at her question. I clapped my hands excitedly. "Oh my god my time has come. Okay, let's see... You guys will be out here, doing your thing around the circle when she comes in." I grabbed her shoulder and she allowed me to spin her to face the entrance. "Then, you all turn and face her at the same time, and the fire suddenly starts! That'll really sell the demonic-summoning stuff."

She jumped and cheered. "Yes! Finally, you're getting into it!"

I laughed loudly. "Let's do this! I have so many ideas!"

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

Timeskip!

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"Alright ladies, one last time."

The chattering dies down and I gave a thumbs up to the kitchens. The atmospheric music restarted, and I crept back into the broom closet behind the circle, watching from the inside. 

They quickly sat down cross-legged around the pentagram, each joined hands with the girl next to them I could just make out soft mumbling, which slowly grew louder and louder. As she promised it was terrifying, it sounded as if each person were saying the same thing in different dead languages. 

The front door bell finally rang, signifying that it had opened. 

"La dee dee, here I am!" Butters shouted. 

The girls turned their heads on cue, some dropping their hands. Butters stepped back once they all did, causing me to silently laugh some more. 

He regained his composure. "What are you all doing here?" He said tonelessly. He was just a stand in, so I wouldn't comment on his acting.

"We're not allowed to say..." They all said at the same time. It was chilling, their chipper work-voices crushed into robotic drones. How exciting.

"What the..." Butters checked the small paper we gave him. "...Hell are you talking about?"

I opened the closet door with a flourish. Sebastian quickly lit a match. "Oh good, you're here. This will make the summoning a lot easier."

"What summoning?"

I chuckled. "Why, the demon of revenge my dear." I extended my arm and sang a C sharp. 

Sebastian quickly threw in the match, and the flames went up. I rose my arms slowly, and the girls stood. I snapped my fingers and they began to dance around the circle. I started to sing in gibberish, slowly sashaying towards Butters. I traced a finger under his jaw as I walked past.

He blushed a bright red, and I had to hold back an ugly laugh to continue the performance. "I heard their cries for a better life. I came to them, an angel in this hell you've created. The demon will rise, and you will know the pain you've caused these children."

Butters took a step towards me, halting before I even responded. I took my fan out with a swish, pointing the blades to his face. "Don't try." I turned around to the fire and smiled through my half-mask after someone slapped the floor, later on we would throw a fire cracker into the pot, and make it smoke as well as pop loudly. But for now the girls just mimicked the noises. 

I turned back, my wicked smile the only thing visible on my face. "He's almost here... Would you like to say goodbye before he does?"

Butters backed away. "You can't kill me!"

"Oh but I'm not, am I?" I said, leaning down patronizingly. "This isn't murder. It's simply karma. Your rotting soul will finally be thrown away, and stopped from contaminating others." 

"Don't do it! I'll do whatever you want!"

I stepped aside, where they were watching from around the fire, frozen, like statues. "It's not what I want, it's what they want. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes!" Butters said. "Just don't hurt me."

I jumped up and down, unable to hold back my excitement. "That's a wrap!" I sang. "You guys did so good! I think we're ready!" 

Britt cheered, which lead the rest of them to start talking again excitedly. General Disarray came out with the fire extinguisher and put it out in a puff, then quickly went straight back into the kitchens without looking to Butters. He did however glance at me, but not long enough for me to acknowledge. 

I heard Butters walk through the invisible line we didn't cross when acting. I turned to face him, before his face was pulled into my neck. I looked down at him, resting my chin onto his head, returning the surprise hug.

"You okay Butters?" I asked, concerned. 

He pushed away, smiling happily. "Yup. I just wanted one last hug from my wife before she scars someone for life is all." 

I laughed. "Hey that rhymes! Hug a wife, scar a life."

He laughed along with me. "Yeah! Kiss your wife, stab a knife!"

"Kill with a gal, then never tell!"

"Steal her heart, tear someone apart!"

"Kiss your honey, go rob some money!"

"Love a girl and end the world!" He shouted, making us both burst into more laughter. While doubled over, I caught a glance at the rest of the girls watching us. Brittany made a heart with her hands again. I stuck my tongue out at her, but my cheerful giggles didn't convince her.

"Okay, I'll go tell General Disarray to do it. I'll see you after she leaves!" He chirped, squeezing me one last time, before walking to the kitchens. I turned to the girls and looked at them blankly for a moment. 

"Ah!!" I squealed, jumping up and down like a schoolgirl. They joined in, their high pitched voices piercing the air with excitment. 

"Okay, but WHO was chanting that one word over and over again? I heard you, and it was amazing!"

Brittany jumped. "Ooh me! I was saying 'Irrumator'." She said, rolling the r's dramatically. She held her hand to her chest proudly. "I took latin in sixth grade."

"Cool! What does it mean?" 

She shrugged. "Horse... I think? Whatever, it sounds real, doesn't it?"

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

Timeskip!

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇ 

"...Has he done it yet?"

"I don't know."

"Is there time for a bathroom break?"

"Probably. Why didn't you go before?"

"Shut up you aren't my mom."

"How's my eyeliner?"

"Great. I love how you rock a cat-eye even when it isn't popular anymore."

"Oh shut up Kendra."

"...Was that a car?"

"It's her. She's here!"

"Everyone shut up!"

"No! Start chanting!"

"Oh my god. Is my eyeliner smooth?!"

"Shh! You already asked that!"

"Sorry I'm nervous!"

It was completely dark in the broom closet, all I could do was listen to my coworkers words. It gave me new insight into them. 

I began to take deep breaths, feeling the familiar stage fright overtake me. I squeezed my hands, double checking I was actually holding my fan and fire cracker. The girls began to chant. From inside, it sounded even more eerie. The soft music began to play from the kitchens, 

"Red leather yellow leather, red leather yellow leather." I whispered, shifting side to side on my heels. They made me so tall my wig brushed the top of the closet. I had to bend over to exit through the doorway, which ended near my collar bones. Hopefully I wouldn't hit my head.

Suddenly the bell rang. In stormed the tap of her heels. "Who the fuck is trying to hack my shit? I know you is back there-!"

The tapping either stopped, or it had been drowned out by the chanting. I didn't see the head turn, but I knew it had happened.

"What the fuck? Uh-uh, the hell are you hoes doin'?"

Three, two, "We're not allowed to say miss." Like a hive mind. I'm so proud of them. 

Click. "Y'all better start talking some fucking sense or i'll start shooting!"

Uh-oh. I opened the closet door, putting on a smirk. "No need to lose your valued employees darling." I said, stepping out and quickly walking in front of the girls. "We're just summoning an old friend, that's all."

She gaped at me. "It's you!" She said, directing the gun at me. "You're the bitch all them people have been talkin' about!"

I nodded, trying to remain cool with a hand gun pointed to me. "Yes. And you're the woman all of these girls have been talking about, aren't you?" 

"The hell are you bitchin about? What did I do?" She asked incredulously. 

"Have you already forgotten? The paychecks?" I said, opening my fan and waving it in front of me, trying to ignore its sharpness. "Not only that, but you're never around when these ladies need you. I don't think you even know their names."

She lowered the gun slightly, rolling her eyes. "Yeah? Who gives a shit? I'm just here to get my fucking money, I saw someone tried to hack my shit. That's probably why we've lost so much fucking money."

"Oh... I see you finally caught on. You see, that was just the first stage of my plan."

"Robbing me was stage one? Bitch you better explain before I bust a cap in your ass." 

I held back a flinch. I was more terrified than anything else, but I had to keep her attention. Otherwise she might notice the fear in my coworkers eyes and realize they weren't so robotic. 

I strolled slowly around her, circling her like a vulture, but still allowing her to keep the gun pointed at me. "You see my dear, I have a certain...soft spot for poor, mistreated creatures. When I saw these girls, forced to smile and flirt everyday for money, I already felt bad." I stopped. "But when I saw you giving them their money, but only if they played your sadistic little game, I was almost impressed."

"I knew I had to save these poor children, but they didn't seem to want my help..." I continued. "So, I sang a little song, and they seemed to warm up to the idea."

"Did you... did you brainwash them?" She shouted. 

I shook my head. "Of course not!" I looked past her to the girls, watching fearfully. "Isn't that right ladies?" As she looked back I nodded, mouthing YES as much as I could.

They nodded, but not in sync. In a panic, I held up three fingers, then two, then one. Thankfully enough of the girls understood, saying "Yes." at once. I smiled and gave a thumbs up, before returning to my stoic expression as she turned back.

"You did! Those little girls are fucking brainwashed!"

I tilted my head. "Have you not been listening? Oh well, it's good that you're here. It'll much easier to complete the ritual now." I said, strolling back around her to have my back to the girls. 

She squinted. "What 'summoning'? You talking about demons and shit?"

"Why..." It took a moment, but I heard the match strike on cue. "...The demon of revenge my dear!" 

The room was decked in glowing red. Her skin shone, and the glint off her gun made it seem a little less dangerous.

Her eyes widened, and as the crackling fire reflected in her eyes I was struck with a terrible idea. I lowered myself slightly and swung my fan towards her. I was hopping she would drop the gun, but instead one of my blades caught the handle and yanked it out of her hand, tossing it over my shoulder into the fire.

I couldn't hold back a gasp. Both she and I were both frozen, and I could just feel the other staring at me. I glanced back at the fire, so filled with adrenaline my heart might have stopped.

Did I just do that? They think I did that on purpose. Oh god don't break character, freak out later.

I sighed shakily, and found my voice. "Well then. Now that there are no more distractions... Let's continue with the summoning, shall we?"

I somehow managed to walk to my starting position, humming atonally. My mind was completely blank, so opted to just begin the gibberish song. The girls were staring at me helplessly, too shocked to really do anything. I sang louder, reaching up and plucking a fake flower out of my hair, then dropped it into the flames. at the same time I tossed the firecracker at Brittany, landing in her lap, unnoticeable.

I slowly rose my arms, staring directly at my boss. For once she looked nervous, but still angry. The girls stood, not in sync, but still eerily quiet. I began to do the small foot work, and on cue they started their dance around the circle, rambling nonsensically.

Brittanys eyes were locked on me as I sang towards the heavens, growing louder and louder. By some luck the fire seemed to reach new heights with every second, making the two look related. If I weren't so shaken up I would have been overjoyed. 

As I reached the highest note I could, I nodded to her. She threw the fire cracker into the pot with enough power for it to thunk against the side. It quickly lit and exploded, turning the flames a rainbow of colors. Thankfully the girls were dancing far enough away, the few stray sparks didn't reach them.

My boss took a step back, watching with caution as we did our performance. I was feeling more confident, and ceased my singing.

"I heard their cries for a better life, and I came to them, an angel in this hell you've created. The demon will rise, and you will know the pain you've caused my children!"

"Shit, shit, shit."

She backed up, and started to turn away. I stepped forward, stomping down loudly. "Don't try to run away dear." I hissed. "It'll find you no matter where you go."

She looked back to me, her eyebrow furrowed. "What do y'all want from me?" She shouted angrily. 

"A simple promise is all. My ladies would just like a promise from you, that you will treat them kindly. They work hard, a thank you and no tricks would be more than enough."

I strolled to her, keeping my eyes locked on her fiery expression. Like a hunter smugly approaching a trapped rabbit. Except now the hunter is cripplingly afraid of the rabbit, because the rabbit has several rows of teeth and will bite without hesitation.

I was right in front of her. It was weird, from above she seemed so much softer, less menacing. I softened my own expression. "Are we in agreement?" I asked, extending my hand to her.

She scowled, and took my hand. We shook once, and she squeezed me hard. "Fine. Just call it off."

I smiled. "Of course. Now," I leaned in down to her ear. "You may leave if you wish."

She nodded and yanked her hand away. "Don't follow me."

And with that, she walked away from the circle, through a row of tables and to the front door. She didn't even look back as she opened it, walking through quickly. The door slowly closed, and we watched through the large windows as she stormed off to her car.

3rd P.O.V

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?"

The woman walked out of the restaurant, stomping to her leopard-print car. She sat down, pulling out her phone and typing in the only number she knew by heart. She held it up to her ear. While the ringing played she lit a cigarette, and tapped her acrylic nails on the steering wheel. 

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. Hmm?" She paused to listen. "Do I sound like I care what fuckin' time it is? Y'all offered me protection, and I need protecting."

She exhaled in a puff of smoke. "Listen, one of your stupid little friends is trying to pull some shit at my restaurant. Raisins, you know, the one that's like a strip club but for little kids?"

"They trying to blackmail me and shit! They got witchcraft, they summoning demons, talking about getting revenge on me. It don't matter, take 'em out. Tonight."

She hung up, starting the car and tossing her phone onto the passenger seat. A face stuck out in the night, catching her attention.

"Hey! Did you hear anything?"

They shook their heads. "No, why? Is it important?" They said, their voice innocent and feminine. 

"Yeah you fucking better not have." 

She pushed her shoe down on the peddle and screeched away, blaring music into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wont say much, since this stories big twist is going to remain hidden, but let's just say that woman at the end is important. I won't say nothing more.


	28. Butters Stotch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick little chapter since I'm a little sick. People seem t like Butters, so here's Butters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend on Quotev made some beautiful art to go along with this chapter. If you would like to see it, please go check it out here: https://www.quotev.com/story/11774996/The-echos-of-our-Hearts-South-park-various-X-Reader/30

Butters and I. How long since I had seen him? How many hours?

No, not...hours. Minutes. I had seen him minutes ago. Then the girls started their chanting, I listened... 

...she had....

I couldn't breath. How long had he been holding me? The fire was gone. Who put it out?

So...warm... was I breathing? My chest was shaking. My outfit was too tight to not feel it. Why am I so out of it? 

I opened my eyes, another dozen tears falling at the slightest movement. She had left, we had come to do what we wanted. But... she had a...

My eyes closed again.

I knew she wouldn't have done it. Our boss was bad... but... she wouldn't have really...? 

How could I do this to them? I could have.... they could have been.... Why did I...

The pressure around me got tighter. I was wrapped in his scent. So sweet. So calm. A smell like home. 

"Shhh..."

Why should I? They could have....

"It's okay."

How could you say that? It would have been my fault if-

"You're safe."

It isn't about me. It isn't about me. Stupid. I'll never forgive myself. They're all so kind... I did this to them.. They could have been...

She wouldn't have-

She would have killed them. 

No... she's a good-

Without hesitation. She's not good. She's a bad person. That's why I'm fighting, right? To stop the bad people.

I'm the bad guy though. 

What does that mean?

I... Everyone can be good. 

...

...

...Right?

Warm. So very warm. The floor's cold though. I wasn't wearing my regular tights, the coldness just bled right through. But he was warm. He was...

He was good. And if he's good...

"...Butters?"

He stiffened. "Yeah?" 

maybe...

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He was so warm. I should get off of him. "You didn't know she would have done something like that."

I sighed into his chest. My breath spread and warmed my face. "I shouldn't have gotten them involved..." I whispered. 

just maybe...

"You didn't do anything bad, you know. They wouldn't done all of this if you were forcing them to." 

"I... It's not that I forced them to. It's that..." What had I done? "...They wanted to. I made them want to do something that could have ended terribly."

Butters exhaled. The movement in his rib-cage moved me up away from him. I had my face pressed into his chest, the air around me felt too chilly when I pulled away. 

I looked up at him. Maybe my eyes were foggy from holding them closed for so long, but he looked... scared, almost. Or, at least on edge. I realized I was probably stressing him out.

"Oh..." I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "Butters I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with me and my emotions." I sat up, and pulled away from him. We were both on the floor, him against a wall and me opposite from him. We were still close enough for our legs to touch in places.

My vision cleared. I felt him place a palm on my shoulder, grounding me to the spot. A fresh batch of tears gathered in my eyes. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stay even.

"Y/n. You can't blame yourself for what happened. They knew this was a possibility, but a lot of them still joined in." He said, trying to make eye contact with me.

I thought about his words. They didn't feel right. "...Still. What if they hate me? What if they out me because I almost got them-"

"Brittany!" He suddenly called, staring at the break room door. I watched him curiously, waiting and seeing what he was doing. 

For a minute there wasn't a response, then suddenly as he was about to call again, she opened the door and peeked her head out, still in costume. 

"What?! We're making a Tik Tok!"

"How many of you are mad at Y/n?"

I looked to the floor ashamed. I didn't want to see her face.

"...Why would we be mad at her?" She asked. I heard her call into the room at another girl. "Are you mad at her?" I couldn't hear what was being said. She poked her head over again. "I don't think anyone's mad, why?"

Butters shrugged. "Y/n is scared you guys are mad because, you know, the gun and stuff."

"What? She literally got in front of us!" She shouted. "We should be mad at her for doing something that stupid!"

I gave Butters a look. He nodded. "I think it's more about that there was a gun at all. She feels really bad about it."

"Tell Y/n that worst stuff has happened to us- Wait is she there with you??" Neither me or Butters had time to respond. "Y/n, I don't know how much you know about how people act in South Park, but one gun is not a big deal!"

She shut the door loudly, leaving us in silence again.

He looked over to me. "Feel better?"

"How is a gun not a big deal?!"

He chuckled. "It's a pretty redneck town. Why is it a big deal for you? Isn't New York full of guns?"

"Yeah, but like..!" I stuttered. "No one's ever held a gun at my face!"

"Okay, but do you feel better about them hating you? Because they don't?"

I sighed, wrapping my arms around my folded legs. "Yeah..."

"You don't look happy."

"..." I sighed again. "I'm just stressed. This whole night has been stressful."

He was quiet for a minute. He suddenly stood up, walking quickly over to a table near the front of the dark restaurant. I looked at my stocking feet, listening to him do whatever he was doing. Out of the corner of my eye there was a sudden flash of brightness, but not anything big enough for my mind to really register it.

"Siri play..." Butters voiced. "...Ballroom music?"

There was silence, then a small robotic voice answered. "Playing 'ballroom music' on Spotify."

Then after another small moment of silence, the speakers around the room started playing a pretty song. There were no vocals, just the sweet tender notes of instruments I was too tired to appreciate. 

He walked back over to me, each step like heartbeat. 

I glanced up at him, he seemed so tall. He leaned down slightly, extending a hand.

"...Butters?"

He looked nervously down at me. "...Would you care to dance?" His wrist was shaking. He was either left handed and I didn't know, or he had offered the wrong hand. Either way seemed plausible.

I smiled, taking his hand and helping myself up. We just stared at each other, loosely linked fingers with awkward eye contact. The music wasn't helpful either. I had the feeling I should do something, but my brain was still processing the fact that I was standing and not sitting anymore.

Eventually he lightly pulled me, and I sidestepped. His faced was screwed in concentration, staring at our feet. My mind was blank. 

I finally stopped thinking all together, and just tried to focus on the music. I didn't know what the song was, but it was quick, and told a story without any words. Like a song that might play in a movie when someone is on a train, staring out a window and dreaming of adventure. But without all of the fancy instruments and sounds that made it unique, I also heard the rhythm. 

After so many years of practice, dancing in time to every kind of song a musical might have, I immediately tried to sync up my footwork. 

Back and forth. Was I dancing? Butters seemed grateful and tried to follow along with my steps. 

Back and forth. It came naturally to me now. Back and forth. It was a pattern that I knew by heart. Without thinking I took the lead, Butters trembling hands in mine. He instantly relaxed, and I almost laughed at how loose his response was. 

"Oh my god." I mumbled. Under the swell of the music I wasn't sure if he even heard me. 

"What?"

I snickered as I naturally glided, practically dragging him along. "It's... nothing, I just realized I've never actually danced with anyone before."

He laughed slightly, stepping on my foot. "What? But haven't you-?"

"I mean, not anywhere besides theater." I explained. He craned his neck so that his head rested on my shoulder. It messed with my mindless steps, but I soon found a new pattern. "And there it's like, super planned out. I've never danced like this. Just like, for fun."

"I think that's pretty normal Y/n." He was trying to stay quieter since he was right in my ear, but it still echoed around the room. "I've never danced with someone either."

"Hush, I'm feeling stuff."

He laughed again, tickling my neck. "What are we even doing?" 

"Dancing?"

"No," He leaned away to look me in the eyes, he broke it immediately though. "I mean, like..." He drifted off. I could see his train of thought dry away. I tilted my head, and he seemed to register my confusion. "Uh, I mean, what kind of dance? What is this?"

"A waltz?" I guessed, entirely sure he had changed his question. I glanced at our feet. "It's too slow to be a tango, It's definitely not ballet."

"I'd have to twirl you, wouldn't I?" He said, almost tripping. It sort of felt like I was leading a heavy blanket, but even a heavy blanket wouldn't be this flustered.

I scoffed. "There's probably more to ballet than that. Wanna try?"

"U-Uh, huh?"

"Was that an "Uh-huh!" like yes, or an uhhhh... huh?" I asked, over exaggerating each example. 

"Second one. I don't think I can spin you without... you know, killing us both." 

His sweet voice made the comment even funnier. "That's fine! At least we'll be dying in style!" I giggled. I glanced at my tall shoes piled in a corner. "Come on! I can't reach over your head, so you have to do it."

His eyes widened. "Ah. Okay... How to I..?"

"Just do whatever you think is right."

He sort of pushed me away, nervously watching his hands and they linked with mine. He slowly rose one arm and lifted it. I started to turn. When he realized, he pulled my arm faster, tugging at my wrist. By now my back was to him, and I started to moved my feet so I could spin the rest of the way. He pulled again, and I stumbled backwards into him.

I gasped without thinking, the sudden pressure against me taking me by surprise. I didn't need to turn my head to know what was going on, I could feel everything. 

Butters was frozen behind me, the beating of his heart was so fast I wasn't sure I wasn't imagining it. He had yanked my arm up, so that he was holding it dramatically in the air. Our other hands were still held together, somehow managing to have fallen near my hips. If we hadn't practically tripped into position I might have thought it was an actual dance move. 

"Butters what the fuck."

He came back to life and let go of me. "Oh gosh Y/n, I'm sorry! I don't know what I did." 

I laughed. He joined me, his expression instantly calming. "You did something!" I said. "And it was pretty cool." 

I spun around, almost slipping on the smooth floor. All my attention was on my dress, twirling prettily around me. I laughed loudly, every bad feeling had floated off. I dramatically grabbed his hand and pulled him, making him stumble with me. He laughed and yanked me back. We were dancing again, any rhythm and tempo was forgotten as we tripped over nothing, the only thing keeping us standing was each other. The part of my brain that was always thinking about the imaginary audience disappeared. I had no one to impress.

Even after the fancy music had died down, we kept 'dancing'. When we weren't half-falling like I was slipping on ice, I was looking at his face. All of the anxieties I had worried about ten minutes ago were gone. He seemed both giddy and more calm than I had ever seen him. It made hope bloom in my chest. 

Hope for what? No clue.

Suddenly another song started playing. It wasn't instrumental like the last one, more of a pop song if I had ever heard one.

"Yeah it auto plays." Butters said. I guess he saw my expression. 

I nodded, my brain filling in the gaps. "Sick. I think I've heard it before... but not like this." 

The music swelled. In a much different way than the last song though. The last one made me feel like I was sitting in high class seats in a huge theater, listening to the orchestra while making eye-contact with an estranged lover sitting far below me that my family has banned me from seeing. But this song erased all of that, and made me feel like a random girl in those cheesy teen movies drinking vodka straight out of the bottle and then kissing another random extra while the main character of the movie cries in a corner.

"First a dance, and now some random bubblegum-pop song?" He laughed. Our quick movements were now just a slow dance with no rules. "What don't you get emotional about?"

"You if you keep this up." 

We both chuckled. I was feeling better. 

"How did you make me stop feeling sad?" I murmured. He leaned in closer, just so much that I noticed it. 

He smiled, more in his eyes with his actual mouth. "Well you like dancing. So I tried to dance."

For some reason that made me feel happy. I pulled him closer to me, shoving my head back into his chest, sighing happily. I could somehow feel him smile. Or maybe that was just me. 

"Mi encantadora esposa..."

After a moment of silence, the loud cheery song blaring in the background while we shuffled together, I heard him say something. It was quiet, the rumbling of his throat on the top of my head more alerting than his actual voice. Maybe because I couldn't understand the words.

"...Was that Spanish??"

I could feel him tense up slightly, like he didn't even realize he had spoken. 

"...Maybe."

I chuckled. Whatever he has said wasn't any of the swear words I was taught by my friends in New York. I'll just imagine it was probably something sweet. Without thinking I lightly kissed his shirt. With my mouth already pressed against him I doubted he could feel it. 

"Nerd."


	29. A Warning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A warning.

"... You totally recorded that didn't you?" 

Brittany laughed loudly and peeled off my fake lashes. I giggled and lightly slapped her arm as she put them away in her purse. 

She nodded smugly. "I record everything! It's not my fault I just captured the sweetest thing in the universe-" She interrupted herself with a squeal. "That was so cute Y/n! You and Butters need to get together right now or I'm not your friend anymore." 

I opened my mouth to talk, but she pushed a makeup wipe and covered it before I could get a word out. "Don't even say it! He is not 'just your friend'. There is no way in hell that just friends dance like that!"

I ducked down away from her cold fabric. "We are just friends though!"

"Ughhhh...."

"Don't make that noise at me!" I giggled, standing up. I rose above everyone's heads, I was still in my shoes for some reason. Unstrapping them I pointed at her. "No matter how much you want it to happen, Butters and I are just really, really good friends."

Suddenly Brittany's smile slipped off her face as her eyes trailed to something behind me.

"Britt?"

She didn't respond. I fought the urge to look back and instead stood up straight, my shoes a lace away from slipping off, still facing away from whatever was behind me. 

It dawned on me that the back door leading into the alley had a small window, high up so that no peeping toms could spy on us in the break room. I tried to calmly adjust my wig, which I hadn't had time to take off before. Did she call the police? I didn't have any time to run, and if there was an officer back here they were probably surrounding the place. Should I yell for Butters to hide? There was no reason for him to go down too-

Brittany suddenly seemed to resurface in reality. "Hey!" She shouted, her eyes still locked on the window. Her voice was shaky, but still had a level of defiance that made me even more curious. She stormed to the door. I glanced around, trying to locate my mask, but with no luck. But I did see about a dozen other girls who were still here, still dressed up, all like deer in headlights at whoever was there.

I could do nothing but listen as Brittany stomped to the door, loudly, probably to assert some kind of strength that would make whoever it was flee. When she stopped, and the tone of the room didn't change, I knew it didn't work.

"...Wait... are you-?"

The door opened, but it wasn't pulled from the inside. It made the sound that in my mind meant the next shift of girls were finally coming in. It was pushed. 

"Hey you can't just-!" Brittany shouted as the cool outside breeze blew in.

"Oh be quiet." 

I couldn't help but gasp. That voice wasn't gruff like the police man I was expecting, and it wasn't any of the heroes. But I still knew the voice, and I knew that it meant trouble. 

I slowly crept further towards the opposite wall so she couldn't see my face, trying to keep my posture confidant. "Hello there." I said, putting on my villain voice. "What brings you here this time of night?" It was lame, but I had to say something.

"Don't try to talk to me. I'm not here to be friends." 

I held a hand up to my side, looking as casual as I could. "Well, why don't you share why you are here, hmm?" 

God that was bitchy. I'm so nervous.

Just by her tone she clearly didn't like mine. "I'm here to warn you."

"Wait what?!" Brittany's clear voice rang out. "What's gonna happen? What are you-"

"Please don't talk through your weird puppets, Operaette. You can just speak directly to me."

I could almost see the look of offense on Britt's face. But she was supposedly brainwashed. I smirked to change my voice, wishing I could turn around. "Ah. I see you know about the little show I put on with these ladies. How did you find out?"

"...The video on your husbands Instagram?"

"Oh of course." Well at least now I knew that Butters had recorded it all. 

"I saw what you did for these girls. I don't like you, you're sick and twisted."

Ouch.

"But..." She continued. "You did help them. And I doubt you'll keep them brainwashed after all of this. So... I thought I might as well tell you that the team is coming."

My stomach twisted into a knot. "...How do you know?" It came out barely louder than a whisper.

"It's what I do. Don't expect me to help you again." 

And with that she walked back to the door, and I could faintly hear her slowly stepping onto the concrete outside before someone shut the door behind her.

I still didn't move, even as the girls began all talking at once. Brittany grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face her, her eyes wild. "That was call-"

"I know!" I said, my real voice returning unhappily. 

"Should we trust her?"

I shrugged, my eyeing darting around the room for my mask. Now I could actually locate it, and quickly tripped over to it in my loose heels. "What other choice do we have?" My voices shook.

She followed me, her voice just as panicky. "How do we know she was telling the truth?!"

I slipped my half-mask onto my face, feeling each tiny hook tug onto my wig I started wishing I had just stuck to my regular mask. I sank to the floor and began re-strapping my shoes as the situation really started to sink in. 

I sighed, not making eye contact. "Wendy always does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.
> 
> This is just the first little bit of the chapter I've been working on. I SWEAR TO GOD, I'M ALMOST DONE WITH IT, IT'S SUPER LONG AND I FELT BAD ABOUT TAKING SO LONG TO POST IT.
> 
> The rest will be uploaded within a week, I swear to whatever hell spawn below me exists that I will get it done within the week. I promise.


	30. Authors note

Hi everyone. This is probably the hardest thing I've had to write, just because I feel so guilty. 

As I'm sure you've all noticed, my upload schedule has been getting worse and worse over the past few months. This is due to a lot of reasons, the quarantine, my hectic online schooling, plus dealing with the stress of a few of my family members actually catching Covid. 

I have invested so much into this story, it's dear to me in a lot of ways. I have the ending planned, tender moments locked and loaded and ready to go. But the entire world is weighing down on me, and I can't continue on for much longer.

Long story short, I will be continuing the story. However I'll be taking a break until I can get in the right headspace I need to write the best story possible. 

And when I come back, which hopefully will be soon, I'll be back on a consistent schedule. 

Until then.

**Author's Note:**

> I added this from Quotev, and I slowly add on more chapters. The ones at the beginning aren't too good, but they get better and better. So give it a shot!


End file.
